Nigeria reneges on filing oil receipt report to IOPC fund

Nigeria has been identified as one of the 14 oil receiving countries in the world that have failed to report oil receipt to the International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) Fund, to which the country is a signatory.

Speaking at the ongoing 2-day 7th sub-committee meeting of the National Standing Committee (NSC) organised by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Oma Ofodile, deputy director and divisional head, the climate change division of the agency, said the failure was damaging the country’s reputation.

Ofodile, who disclosed this while giving feedback on the efforts of the sub-committee on the identification of receivers of contributing oil, said the sensitisation of oil receiving organisations in Nigeria would lead to mass registration and contribution towards the IOPC Fund secretariat.

According to her, NIMASA has a register for contributing oil receivers in Nigeria, in which oil receiving firms are expected to put their names and report their receipt as an obligation to the IOPC Fund.

“It is good we have a record as a contributing oil receiver and also important because it is our obligation to ensure we give the IOPC Fund the names of all contributing oil receivers in Nigeria,” she added.

Earlier on, Aishatu Jidda, secretary of the NSC-IOPC Fund sub-committee, said the sub-committees have been working towards ensuring the effective implementation of the IOPC Funds in Nigeria.

According to her, the committees have had six meetings since they were constituted.

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These meetings, she added, have culminated in the review and approval of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) by the IOPC Fund secretariat, the development of an action plan for the implementation of the SOP, and the implementation of the terms of reference of the sub-committees.

According to her, the convening of the meeting was a result of the directive of the chairperson of the NSC-IOPC Fund that four meetings be held this year in February, May, August, and October.

“The objective of this meeting was to deliberate on the resolutions reached during the 6th meeting, including the development of a roadmap on the establishment of a local oil pollution compensation fund by local insurance companies; development of a pricing index for the Nigerian maritime industry and data on fish stock/fisheries,” she said.

Nigeria is a party to the International Convention for Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage 1992 and the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage 1992.

Both conventions were domesticated in Nigeria by the NIMASA, and to implement them, NIMASA also constituted the National Standing Committee (NSC) on IOPC Fund in September 2004 and another the five sub-committees in October 2016 with a mandate to ensure effective implementation of both conventions.