FG’s agencies and scramble for presence at ports

Way back in 2011, the Federal Government’s Economic Management Team led by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, then Minister of Finance, pruned down the number of Federal Government agencies that were participating in cargo clearance at the seaports, from 14 to seven.

The action of government at that time, was largely due to the difficulties faced by shippers (importers and exporters), while clearing their cargoes from the ports. Then, it was discovered that importers spend as long as 30 days and above to clear their consignments from the ports, following the cumbersome port processes and the delays that come with the presence of multiple agencies at the ports.

Also, the situation created huge cost implications for shippers as many pay hundreds of billions of naira annually to shipping companies and terminal operators as demurrage and storage rents, for not taking delivery of their consignments as and when due.

Okonjo-Iweala’s directive listed seven agencies permitted to operate within the ports to include the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA); Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); the Ports Health; the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS); Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS); Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Department of State Security (DSS).

While the others not on the list including the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA); the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON); Nigerian Quarantine Service; National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and others were asked to vacate the ports, only to be at the ports on invitation of Customs, when necessary.

After the directive was put in place, some of the sacked agencies started lobbying from the National Assembly to be restored in the ports. The agencies that were accused of lobbying at that time were SON, NAFDAC and NDLEA.

After the lobbying, some of them were restored at the ports until in mid-2017 when the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo came up with an Executive Order on Ease of Doing Business at the ports. In the new Order, the Federal Government mandated the NPA under the administration of Hadiza Bala-Usman, to cut down the number of agencies at the ports.

As a result of the mandate, the NPA in June 2017 released a list, which reiterated that it was only seven agencies that were approved to be at the ports and they were the seven authorised initially by Okonjo-Iweala in 2011.

Two days after the NPA re-introduced the Federal Government directive that streamlined the number of government agencies at the ports, NDLEA issued an alternative directive, claiming it had the mandate of the government to operate at the ports.

Ofoyeju Mitchell, who was the head of Public Affairs of NDLEA at that time, said in a statement that the Federal Government through the NPA listed eight agencies to operate at the seaports.

“The Federal Government has endorsed the operations of the NDLEA at the seaports. This clarification was openly made by Bala Usman at a stakeholders’ meeting held in Lagos sequel to the implementation of the executive order issued by the acting President, Yemi Osinbajo on the Ease of Doing Business at the ports,” Mitchell said in the statement.

“NDLEA has been cleared by the presidency to work at the seaports. This official position must be respected by all port agencies and stakeholders. Attempt to violate this directive shall be considered as a conspiracy to advance the nefarious activities of drug cartels to the detriment of our national security.”

In February this year, NPA issued another statement that reiterated that only eight Federal Government agencies with NDLEA inclusive were allowed to operate and have physical representation at all port locations.

Abdullahi Goje, general manager, corporate and strategic communications of NPA, who stated this in a statement, said that other agencies not mentioned in the list above should remain outside the port premises as Customs, which is the lead agency for inspection of cargoes, has developed standard operating procedures (SOP) to facilitate their seamless operation especially during examination of cargo as it concerns an agency.

Surprisingly in May (last month), the NPA released another statement that again confirmed that eight agencies were allowed to operate at the port but this time, instead of the NDLEA being among the eight, NAFDAC was chosen in place of NDELA.

This has brought fresh concern among industry stakeholders, who believed that the scramble for presence at the ports by government agencies was due to their ‘selfish interest’, which is largely driven by the desire to enrich themselves than facilitate trade.

Paul Usoro, guest speaker, who presented a paper on ‘Federal Government Policies on Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria’ during a business luncheon organised by Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in Lagos recently, confirmed that the multiplicity of government agencies at the ports, not only delay cargo clearance but has huge cost implication on businesses.

Therefore, he advised, the government to see to the pruning down of the number of agencies at the ports to facilitate trade and cut down cost for shippers.

In his view, Emma Nwabunwanne, a Lagos-based importer, who believed that the different regulatory roles played by NAFDAC, NDLEA and SON at the nation’s seaports, are critical to healthy economic development, pointed out that the three agencies do not need to station in the ports and participate in all cargo examinations, just like Customs men, in order to play those roles.

According to him, those roles can effectively be played through occasional visit to the port, on the invitation of Customs, when the cargo under examination relates to their areas of coverage.

This was aside from the fact that Customs on several occasions has proven to have the eagle-eye to detect offensive imports like sub-standard goods, hard drugs or prohibited items without the agency responsible being around.

Therefore, the government needs to take a firm decision on the place of these agencies at the port, if the aim of improving Nigeria’s ranking in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business table and making our seaports a friendly business environment, would be achieved.