The House of Representatives has ordered the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), to suspend the proposed disbursement of $350 million Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) to the Nigerian shipowners.
The House also directed the agency to present an audited statement of account showing all monies that have accrued to the CVFF within seven days.
Adopting a motion of urgent public importance brought before the House by Henry Nwawuba, the lawmakers also directed its Committee on Local Content to engage an external auditor to audit all contracts entered into in the cabotage regime and report the same to the House within seven days.
The committee is expected to commence immediate investigations into the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund to determine all monies that have accrued to the Fund since its establishment in 2003 and report to the House within 14 days.
The lawmakers also asked the Minister of State for Transportation and NIMASA Director-General to report to the House Committee on local content on the state of the Fund and how the funds have been applied over the past 20 years.
Recall that the Minister of Transportation recently disclosed that the Federal Government has approved the disbursement of the accrued $350 million Cabotage Fund to qualified Nigerian shipowners.
According to the guideline for disbursing the fund, NIMASA would provide 50 percent of the CVFF, PLIs would provide 35 percent and 15 percent will come from Shipowners.
The approved PLIs for the disbursement of the CVFF are Union Bank, Polaris, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Zenith and Jaiz Bank.
