…regulator sets 30, 60, 90-day targets as port reform takes off
The newly established Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA) has drawn up a 30, 60 and 90-day action plan to tackle inefficiencies, reduce the cost of doing business and strengthen the competitiveness of Nigerian ports.
The agency’s Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Pius Akutah, disclosed this when a delegation of the Congress of Nigerian Maritime Media Practitioners (CONMMEP) visited NPERA to seek clarification on its new mandate, transition from the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) and priorities for the port economy.
Akutah said the Nigerian Port Economy Regulatory Agency A
ct 2026, which repealed the Nigerian Shippers’ Council Act, Cap N133 of 2004, had created a new regulatory institution with a broader mandate covering the port economy.
He stressed that the establishment of NPERA represented more than a change of name or institutional identity, describing it as a fundamental restructuring of economic regulation in Nigeria’s port sector.
According to him, the former Nigerian Shippers’ Council was primarily established to protect the interests of shippers, including negotiating freight rates and port charges and promoting the development of shippers’ associations across the country.
NPERA, he said, had been given a wider responsibility to regulate the port economy and address issues affecting its efficiency, competitiveness and cost structure.
Akutah traced the development of the new regulatory framework to the concession of Nigerian ports in 2006, which, he said, raised concerns over the roles of government agencies that were operating simultaneously as regulators and service providers.
This led to the appointment of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as the interim economic regulator of the ports in 2014, pending the enactment of legislation to give the function a statutory foundation.
He said the passage of the NPERA Act had now provided that legal foundation, adding that the agency had developed a transition timetable covering the first 30, 60 and 90 days, followed by targets for 100 days, one year and beyond.
He assured stakeholders that they would be carried along throughout the transition, while major policy directions would continue to be guided by the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy.
NPA To Take Over Inland Dry Ports
The NPERA boss disclosed that one of the immediate directives from the Minister was for the Shippers’ Council to hand over the inland dry ports it had been promoting across the country to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
He said discussions were already under way with the NPA Managing Director to facilitate the implementation of the directive.
The NPERA boss also said Section 51 of the new law provided for the preservation of existing contracts and unresolved matters, as well as the protection of the offices and employment of existing appointees and workers during the transition.
He identified the completion of the transition from the Nigerian Shippers’ Council to NPERA within the first six months of implementation of the Act as one of the agency’s immediate priorities.
The process, he added, would run alongside the development and issuance of regulations required to operationalise the new regulatory framework.
Port Efficiency Takes Centre Stage
Akutah identified port efficiency as a major priority of the new agency, saying many of the challenges confronting the sector were linked to operational inefficiencies.
He said the presence of multiple government agencies within the port environment often resulted in excessive human interaction at a time when the global trend was towards digitalisation and automated processes designed to minimise human contact.
Such inefficiencies, he said, increased the cost of doing business and weakened the competitiveness of Nigerian ports compared with those of neighbouring countries.
He also identified the high cost of port infrastructure and services as a major factor affecting Nigeria’s ability to compete effectively in international trade.
The NPERA chief executive listed dispute settlement and effective management of maritime cases among other critical areas, given their impact on the cost and efficiency of doing business.
He said the success of the new regulatory regime would ultimately be measured by the extent to which Nigerians experienced improvements in port efficiency, lower costs and greater competitiveness.
New Penalties Target Port Infractions
The NPERA Director General said the new legislation had also introduced a stronger deterrence regime through enhanced penalties for infractions.
He noted that some penalties under the repealed law were as low as N300 and N500, which he said were no longer sufficient to discourage violations in the modern maritime economy.
Under the new framework, he said penalties for certain infractions could range from N500,000 to N20 million.
He explained that the purpose of the higher penalties was not primarily to punish offenders but to deter activities capable of undermining trade facilitation and the efficient functioning of the port economy.
FG Steps Up Funding Drive For Port Modernisation
The NPERA chief executive also pointed to ongoing efforts to modernise Nigeria’s port infrastructure as part of wider developments in the maritime sector.
He said the Federal Government was pursuing foreign direct investment and other funding opportunities to accelerate port development, adding that some modernisation projects had reached advanced stages and were already before the Federal Executive Council.
Funds, he further disclosed, had been approved to support port modernisation.
According to him, the developments reflected the government’s commitment to law reform, institutional strengthening and the use of the maritime sector as a catalyst for economic diversification.
Akutah said implementation of the NPERA Act would have implications beyond port operators and maritime stakeholders, stressing that Nigerian consumers would also benefit from improvements in the infrastructure and systems supporting the movement of goods into and within the country.
CONMMEP Demands Sustained Media Engagement
Earlier, CONMMEP President, Udo Onyeka, said the delegation’s visit was aimed at strengthening the relationship between the maritime media and NPERA while gaining a clearer understanding of the agency’s mandate, transition, reforms, priorities and vision.
Onyeka said the efficiency of Nigerian ports, the cost of moving goods, ease of doing business, competitiveness of Nigerian enterprises and growth of non-oil exports were closely connected to the effectiveness of institutions regulating the maritime sector.
He said maritime journalists had a responsibility to keep the public adequately informed while providing regulators and other stakeholders with a platform to explain their policies, achievements and challenges.
He identified shipping and logistics costs, port congestion, tariffs and charges, demurrage, protection of shippers, port digitalisation, the National Single Window, non-oil export development, regional maritime connectivity, maritime security and the blue economy as issues requiring sustained media attention.
The CONMMEP president called for regular briefings, access to credible data, technical explanations of policies and increased interaction between officials and journalists to improve the quality of maritime reporting and reduce misinformation.
He, however, stressed that the relationship between NPERA and the media should be based on access, transparency, professionalism and mutual respect, rather than turning the media into a public relations platform for the agency.
Onyeka said CONMMEP expected the engagement to evolve into a sustained relationship rather than remain a one-off meeting, with journalists continuing to scrutinise developments in the port economy while giving regulators and other stakeholders opportunities to explain their policies and actions.