The House of Representatives has given approval for the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to disburse $360 million Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund (CVFF) to Nigerian ship owners.
The Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund was established by the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act 2003, for the purpose of developing indigenous ship acquisition capacity and to provide financial support to indigenous/domestic coastal shipping operators in Nigeria.
NIMASA in a statement by its Assistant Director of Public Relations, Osagie Edward, made available to SaharaReporters on Friday said that a House of Reps committee gave the approval for disbursement of the $360 million CVFF at the end of an investigation it conducted.
Edward stated that in its report, the House Committee noted that following its findings it requested NIMASA and the Ministry of Transportation to provide detailed information on the total amount accrued to the Fund and disbursements since inception.
According to him, the lawmakers stated that "After a thorough analysis of the various submissions, coupled with the explanations given by the Ministry and NIMASA, the Committee discovered that due process was followed in the planned disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund.
"The Committee notes that the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund (CVFF) is a fund that was set up in 2003 by the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act. The fund was established to develop indigenous ship acquisition capacity and to provide financial assistance to indigenous shipping operators.
"The Committee further notes that there is a lack of capacity amongst indigenous/ Domestic Coastal operators in Nigeria, thus the reason Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC) still awards contracts to foreign shipping companies in contravention of the Cabotage and Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Acts. Some of these awards have been previously investigated by the Committee, which led to their cancellation.
"It was also discovered that the total funds of $360m in the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund (CVFF) account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) represents 50%, while the remaining counterpart funds of 50% is from stakeholders and banks, which is 15% and 35% respectively."