In the Maritime sector, the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) has revealed that it saved N49.3bn through intervention in legal cases and out of court settlement.
Mr Oluwarotimi Anifowose, the Director of Strategic Planning and Research of the Nigerian Shippers Council, disclosed this in a presentation when the House of Representatives Committee on Shipping Services paid the agency an inspectional visit in Lagos recently.
He stated that the agency through the Presidential Standing Task Team had been able to save N2.77bn in 2021, N3.2bn in 2022 and N3.18bn in 2023, totalling N9bn.
Anifowose said, the Ports Standing Task Team saved N58.4bn from interventions in legal cases, out-of-court settlements, and vessel demurrage savings and fines between 2021 and 2023.
“In the area of fines, the PSTT slammed N1m on errant operators during its ‘Operation Free the Port Corridor’ between 2021 and 2023. For issues bordering on arbitrary charges, container deposit refunds, import and export fraud, the NSC recovered N6.1bn between 2019 and 2023,” he stated.
He also declared that the council saved the Nigerian Economy of N33billion from unnecessary payments, freight rates, and charter party fees at the country’s ports during the period under review.
“As a result of the confirmation of reasonableness of freight, charter party, and demurrage remittances, the NSC has been able to reduce the level of capital flight out of the country. The total amount saved through the confirmation of reasonableness of demurrage, freight rate, and charter party was N33bn,” he stated.
He stated that N29bn was saved from confirmation of the reasonableness of the demurrage fee, while N3bn was saved from the reasonableness of charter party fees.
“The complaints include arbitrary charges, container deposit refunds, and import and export fraud, among others,” he disclosed.
