The Nigerian Shippers’ Council on Friday said the launch of the Nigerian Port Process Manual, NPPM, has minimized corrupt practices and congestion in the ports.
In a report on Friday the council announced that the NPPM has saved the Nigerian economy an average vessel demurrage of $20,000 per day between year 2020 and 2021 which ultimately translated to the sum of $6,540,000 (N3,270,000,000.00k).
M. O. Fadipe, National Coordinator, Port Standing Task Team, PSTT, said the launch of the NPPM, has achieved a reduction in the number of infractions from 121 in year 2020 to 12 in year 2021. This he said was made possible through the transparency of the SOPs, consistency of its application and predictability in doing business at the Nigerian ports.
Fadipe said the NPPM achieved reduction in average time of resolving complaints bothering on vessel infractions from 7 – 10 days to 1 – 4 hours, thereby saving the nation hundreds of millions in foreign exchange.
“These incremental changes, if sustained, will contribute towards improving Nigeria’s position on the Ease of Doing Business rankings as well as Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) which will ultimately drive investment and development in the country’s maritime sector.”he said.
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Emmanuel Jime, The executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council said transactions at Nigerian Ports have become more transparent, predictable, and consistent in line with best practices. “More than 85% of vessels that called at Nigerian ports and terminals left without incident in 2021.” He explained
He said PSTT in the course of carrying out its activity, illegal demands by officials of manning agencies, for the total sum of $50,650 which could have gone in to private pockets were averted.
“The task team ensured that where infractions occurred, same were legitimately booked by relevant agencies of government involved in boarding exercise” he noted
Meanwhile, Ajani, Magdalene, the permanent Secretary, federal ministry of transportation has urged all agencies working at the port to ensure transparency and desist from corrupt practices. She warned that any agency caught in any form of malpractices will be penalized.
The Federal Government, upon the recommendation of the Federal Ministry of Transportation (FMOT) in December, 2020 appointed the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as the lead agency in the implementation of the Nigerian Port Process Manual (NPPM), Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) and monitoring of the Port Service Support Portal (PSSP) through the Office of the Vice President- Federal Republic of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo
According to the Vice President, “An effective successful systemic intervention in the port sector will rapidly change the narrative, the perception and the ranking of Nigeria in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by Transparency International.
The Nigerian Port Process Manual on port operations is expected to be one of the key indicators for the effective implementation of executive Order 001, essentially to promote transparency and efficiency in the business environment and design to facilitate the ease of doing business
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