The federal government has failed to capture the Apapa and TinCan Island port reconstruction projects in the 2023 national budget.
This was revealed in the budget for the 2023 fiscal year presented to the national assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, October 7.
In the budget, the sum of N30 million was allocated for agencies under the federal ministry of transportation such as Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), and Nigerian Shippers Council, for other consultancy services.
Meanwhile, agencies like MAN and the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarders in Nigeria got N1.5 billion and N775 million respectively.
Recall that the managing director of the NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko, had said that a whooping sum of about $600 million (N258 billion) was needed for the rehabilitation of Nigerian ports.
However, this figure was not captured in the budget as only N10 milluon was allocated for implementation of strategies for the rehabilitation, utilisation and patronage of Eastern ports.
The seaports being considered included Apapa, and Tin Can Island Ports in Lagos state, Calabar Port in Cross River state, as well as Warri, Koko and Burutu ports in Delta state.
Bello-Koko had said that not all the terminal operators had the financial capacity to handle the reconstruction of the quay aprons.
He stated that, “Not all the terminal operators have the financial capacity to reconstruct because it is no more rehabilitation but full reconstruction.
“While some of them might be able to have financing in the next few months, others might not be able to meet up and then you need to have uniformity in terms of the construction plans and so on.
“We also didn’t want the terminal operators to come up with their own engineering designs.
“So, we are coming up with a holistic engineering design of the ports.
“When we do that, we would have an estimated cost of over $600 million.
“Now, we are looking at the funding options. The first option is for the terminal operators to reconstruct those berths.
“The other alternative is for the NPA to reconstruct those quays and to do that, we are going to fund it ourselves.
“We are working towards requesting the government’s approval to use a certain percent of our revenue to fund the reconstruction of Tin Can.
“We are just being proactive. When the government decides to go that way, we know that we have already done some of the work.
“The other option is to just get a multilateral lending agency to fully fund the reconstruction,” he added.
Meanwhile, a source close to the NPA, while speaking on Wednesday, October 12, said that though one of two terminal operators wanted to undertake the project, it was still the responsibility of the ports authority.
He stated that, “It is the responsibility of the NPA. The agency is looking for funding options.
“Some terminal operators like one or two wanted to undertake the project, but if one person does it and the other does not do it, there will be distortions of the whole system.
“This is why NPA wants to do it itself. So, if it is not in the budget, I don’t know how this would be achieved,” he added.
The vice-president of Business Action Against Corruption, Integrity Alliance, Jonathan Nicol, questioned why shippers were charged a seven percent development fee if the ports would not be developed.
He said that it was the duty of terminal operators to develop the terminals.
Nicol said that, “Shippers pay a 7 percent surcharge for port development levy across the country.
“The 7 percent surcharge is a levy for every cargo that comes into the ports. Shippers have been paying that levy for 30 years.
“It is enormous money for development of the ports, which has not been used, looking at the state of the ports.
“The question is, why do shippers have to pay for port development levies when the port has been concessioned? This is because concessionaires are supposed to develop their own spaces at the ports, which they rented from NPA.
“It is their duty to develop them and not that of the shippers to do it for anybody,” he added.
Nicol further noted that NPA had the right to request for money to develop the ports from what they had been paying to the federal government.
Meanwhile, the general-secretary of the Association of Bonded Terminal Operators of Nigeria (ABTON), Haruna Omolajomo, lamented poor infrastructural maintenance by the federal government, stressing that it was not good for the growth of the industry, according to The Punch.
Omolajomo said that, “As far as I am concerned, it is very painful that the federal government, through its agencies and other parastatals, is very poor in maintenance culture.
“If infrastructure is not obsolete, decayed, collapsed or totally dilapidated, no one will be bothered.
“Even if the budget provisions are made, the money would be diverted or cornered by some bad eggs in the country.
“One is therefore not surprised to see the dilapidated ports and quay aprons of our premier ports, especially those in Lagos state.
“In actual fact, without further delay, we have suggested, and we are still suggesting that all the dilapidated ports and a state of emergency should be declared on quay aprons in the premier ports.
“If this is not done or taken seriously, it will soon attract international maritime operators or the world in general.
“Our premier ports can be declared a no-go area or unsafe for foreign investors and vessels.
“This will definitely have adverse effects on the people, the government and our economy.
“It is not too late for the minister of transportation as well as the national assembly to do the needful now.
“Let them quickly accommodate these facilities involving restructuring of ports in the 2023 national budget,” he added.
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