NIMASA Remits N21.805bn to Federal Government Coffers

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has within one year and one month, remitted a total of N21.805 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the federal government.

A breakdown of the payments obtained by THISDAY showed that the agency paid N9.975 billion $38.272 million (N11.826) to the CRF within the period under review.

Also, on June 1, last year, the agency remitted N5 billion into the CRF. Similarly, it paid N4.975 billion on June 2; $7 million on November 22, 2016 and $15 million on April 19, 2017.

In the same vein, the agency on July 18, 2017, remitted $16.272 million to the CRF.

THISDAY checks revealed that in 2015, NIMASA’s contributions to the CRF was just N2billion and $15 million respectively.

Another payment of $24.025 million described as “direct debit” by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was received from NIMASA accounts.

Notably, close to half of 2015 was under the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration as President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Dr. Dakuku Peterside as director-general of the agency on March 10, 2016.

At a workshop in Abuja earlier last month, Minister of Finance Mrs. Kemi Adeosun had said the management of NIMASA was able to generate more money by half year than it did in the two preceding years.

According to her, “Unlike NIMASA and the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB), some agencies and departments are operating in such a manner that returned minimal funds to government. To this effect, a circular has been issued restricting allowable expenses in line with reforms occurring across government businesses, as compliance checks would be undertaken regularly to ensure that all Agencies and Departments adhere to the new requirements.”

Meanwhile, the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside has stressed the need for stakeholders to actively participate in the Nigerian maritime sector in order to support the growth of the country’s blue economy.

Peterside, who made this known while addressing stakeholders at the Harmonised NIMASA Stakeholders Interactive Forum with the theme “Synergy: An Instrument for Sustainable Development of the Blue Economy,” said that amount of littoral states in Nigeria and the length of the nation’s maritime domain makes the development of Nigeria blue economy a necessity for the country’s benefit.

Speaking further, Peterside said that the agency is currently on a mission of changing the

landscape of the nation’s maritime domain by putting a policy framework in place to allow maritime business to thrive. According to him, “Maritime provides a veritable opportunity for us to grow our economy. We will ensure we play our role by providing necessary policies for industry players to reap the benefits of participating in the sector in order to develop our blue economy for Nigeria’s benefit.”

He however charged industry stakeholders to collaborate and cooperate with the agency as it strives to create an enabling environment for them to operate adding that the agency has created various platforms through which stakeholders can communicate with the agency on various issues.