Frontline licensed customs agent; Mr. Lucky Amiwero has condemned terminal operators for dragging the Nigerian Shippers’ Council to court over issues of alleged arbitrary charges, even as he called on President Muhammadu Buhari to revisit the concession agreement between the federal government and the investors.
Amiwero in an exclusive chat with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos yesterday reiterated that the concessionaires have no right to flex muscles with the port economic regulator over its mandate, noting the federal government should be blamed for the shortcomings.
Amiwero urged the Buhari administration to examine the concession agreement and then take a decision, pointing out that the terminal operators’ court injunction will hamper the performance of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council.
According to him, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council has done marvelously well under the Hassan Bello leadership adding that the Executive Secretary has been able to make some level of changes toward resisting port charges in the hands of concessionaires.
"The best thing the government should do is to review the contract of the concessionaires because they cannot continue to run the ports the way it is being run at the moment"
"The new government should review the whole contract because the contract tilts to favour the terminal operators”, he argued.
Amiwero also blamed maritime lawyers for what he called wrong interpretation of the concession agreement, saying that the role of an economic regulator has been misconstrued.
He further advised government not to extend the contract with concessionaires for daring government orders, adding that some terminal operators need to leave the country for obvious reasons and for imposing arbitrary charges and alleged infrastructure decay.
"In the contract agreement there is a portion that states categorically that government will appoint a regulator and government in its own wisdom appointed Shippers’ Council"
If Shippers’ Council has been appointed by government to regulate who are the terminal operators?"
He said government appointed the council because there was a vacuum that needed to be filled as regards port regulation.
Amiwero also faulted the process of ports concession by the government, according to him, there is no way a port can be concessioned without a regulator.
"If there is no regulator then it is not a concession:, he argued, even as he added that the process is criminal.
"There is no system like that in world where you concession the ports and nobody is there to monitor the processes"
He described the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as possessing a strong character that withstand the terminal operators resistance he also urged the Nigerian President to take a stand on how to empower the Bello led administration of the shippers’ council.
"If you don't have any intervention or a strong character like the Shippers Council; with the kind of leadership there, we will continue to run our ports just like we have been running in the last 16 years" he noted. http://shippingposition.com.ng/article/amiwero-blasts-terminal-operators-urges-buhari-govt-review-concession-agreement
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