OGFZA halts charges on containers at free zones

The Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA) has stopped all charges on containers imported into the nation’s oil and gas free zones to cut the cost of doing business.

The directive for the stoppage of the levy was contained in a letter dated May 23 and signed by OGFZA’s head of operations and technical services, Mr Adekunle Ajayi, on behalf of the agency’s managing director.

The letter directed the West Africa Container Terminal (WACT), the company that was charging the fees, to suspend the imposition of the levy at once.

The letter to WACT explained that the levy was not authorized by OGFZA and was therefore in violation of section 11 of the Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone Regulations 2003 which states that “the Authority shall issue a schedule of tariffs which shall apply in the Free Zone and which shall be reviewed from time to time and copies made available to the licensees operators.”

The managing director of OGFZA, Mr Umana Okon Umana, described the cancellation of the unauthorized container levy as a significant expression of commitment by OGFZA to the federal government policy on the ease of doing business and a vote for due process.

Umana said there was need to do all that is proper to help free zones investors who have felt the pinch of the economic downturn on their bottom line.

The Exporters’ Association of Nigeria through the Director-general of the association Prince Joseph Idiong,has hailed the policy decision as “a welcome development and good news” to hundreds of “exporters who were already complaining about the terminal charges.”