• NPA threatens to report erring officers to presidency • Clearing brokers need govt to declare state of emergency
The Presidential coverage on Ease of Doing Business at seaports throughout the nation appears to have failed as most of the authorities agencies are allegedly violating the chief order.
Against this backdrop, the Acting National President of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANCLA) Dr. Kayode Collins Farinto has referred to as on the Federal Government to declare state of emergency in the maritime sector or droop ease of doing enterprise coverage.
Besides, the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Hadiza Bala Usman has threatened to hunt the intervention of the Vice President Prof. YemiOsinbajo if the scenario persists.
The workplace of the Vice President oversees the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), which issued the presidential order. The order specifically streamlined the actions of all agencies in the nation’s seaports to attain the 24-hour cargo clearance.
Government agencies allowed at the ports are: Nigerian Customs Service (NCS); Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); Nigeria Police Force; National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC); Department of State Security (DSS); Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA); Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and Port Health.
The NPA boss mentioned the way in which some authorities brokers flout the order has restricted its optimistic affect and the Federal Government must know these flouting the principles.
She stated that it was regrettable that some agencies haven't totally complied with the order, one yr after.
Assuring that the NPA would proceed to satisfy its personal a part of the order, Usman lamented that the organization has the limitation of compelling different agencies to do what they're speculated to do beneath the presidential directives.
Farinto mentioned: “We hereby name for state of emergency or higher droop ease of doing enterprise in the maritime sector as a result of it isn't working. Ministries, Directorates and Agencies (MDAs) behave to be larger than the Federal Government they're working for and likewise flouting orders given by NPA with impunity and no sanctions meted to them. Are they now larger than the nation?
“We don't need to pretend that there is total systems collapse in the maritime industry. The Federal Government should stop deceiving Nigerians and stop shouting about ease of doing business because it has been abused” he mentioned.
He gave causes for calling for the state of emergency to incorporate dilapidated ports infrastructure and the extortion of brokers by the Nigeria Customs Service.
He mentioned “In view of the latest developments in the seaports and land borders, vis-a-vis dilapidated infrastructure in the ports like roads, non-existence of multimodal transport and the a number of checking factors by the Customs and varied extortions by the Maritime Police, and different authorities agencies not complying with the chief order. Failure of NCS to adapt to the implementation of ease of doing enterprise, double examination on containers, extortion of ANCLA members, Customs launch and arrest and re-arrest of containers and above all, actions of FOU to question consignment base on low cargo and low worth".
Farinto, who can also be the Managing Director of Wealthy Honey Investment Nigeria Limited was very livid concerning the current state of the seaports and the land borders.
While lamenting the scenario as nicely as extortion by NCS and maritime police on his members, he mentioned: “The Comptroller-General of Nigerian Customs Service, Hameed Ali is not bigger than Nigeria, he can not continue to flout the executive order and actions is yet to be taken. The Inspector General of Police should come to the port and see how the maritime police has left their statutory functions and now obtain manifest from shipping companies and be stopping containers and call agents for settlement in which at least N150,000 is been paid per container”.