‘Why FG must include shipbrokers in $350m facility’

The Nigerian Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers has said the Federal Government must involve it in the disbursement of its $350m Cabotage Vessels Financing Fund for proper valuation of vessels.

The national president of NICS, Chris Ebare, disclosed this in a telephone interview with The PUNCH. According to him, the move is a welcomed development if only the government will allow shipbrokers to do the valuation.

Recently the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), as part of the Federal Government’s commitment to growing the indigenous capacity of Nigerians to own vessels, approved the immediate disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund to qualified Nigerians.

While announcing the fund, the Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo, said the presidential approval received by the ministry confirmed Union, Zenith, Polaris, UBA and Jaiz Banks as appointed primary lending institutions for the disbursement of the funds.

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The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dr Bashir Jamoh, announced that the funds available for disbursement was slightly over N16bn and $350m.

He said, “What we have collected so far is in two folds made up of naira and dollar components. So far, the Funds available under the CVFF in naira component is around N16bn while contributions in dollar component hover around $350m.”

Reacting to this, Ebare said, “The only thing I know that is everywhere now is the issue of CVFF which the Federal Government has approved.

“It will be a welcome development if only they will allow shipbrokers do the valuation. It is the shipbrokers that are supposed to assess vessels.

If for instance you come to Access bank and say there is a vessel to buy, that vessel is supposed to be valued. If they do not involve shipbrokers, it will still return to square one, you will still be seeing dead ships and all that.

“Anybody can collect say $100m and say they want to buy vessels and then they will go to somewhere and buy something that is not seaworthy. It is time we do things right.”

The president of the Shipowners Association of Nigeria, MkGeorge Onyung, added that the group will be cooperating with the Federal Government to ensure effective disbursement of the fund.

He added, “I was there, I listened to what was said. The minister is doing his job, this is something we have been expecting him to do since and he just did.

“What we should do is to corporate with the minister to see that the money comes. There is a cabotage act, so we go through the act, know what it says and from there we can discuss. It is relevant to the economy and to us. The minister has a duty to do, and he is doing his job.”