- Jamoh outlines new conditions for disbursement
- NISA reconciles aggrieved members, plots reunion with SOAN
Amid the excitement and optimism with the federal government’s decision to disburse the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), the 15 percent equity to be provided by ship-owners has become a source of worry for interested operators.
This is coming on the heels of a recent meeting between the management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and indigenous ship-owners to attain seamless disbursement of CVFF.
According to the CVFF guidelines for disbursement, interested ship-owners are to provide 15% equity, the Primary Lending Institutions/ banks providing 35% and the CVFF covering 50%.
However, speaking in a meeting by Nigerian Indigenous Ship-owners Association (NISA) yesterday, Mr. Rowaye Jibril lamented that the 15% equity could pose a stumbling block to accessing the fund, stressing that most Nigerian ship-owners are already in huge debts and have their assets confiscated by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
Meanwhile, the Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT) of NISA, Chief Isaac Jolapomo opined that indigenous ship-owners could explore an arrangement utilized by oil and gas operators who receive 100% equity from the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the lending institutions.
Jolapomo, however, confirmed that earlier plans by the group to get a court injunction to stop CVFF disbursement has been shelved following a NISA delegation meeting with the NIMASA management.
The Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh OFR, had called for the suspension of the court action, even as he admonished all ship-owners to come together to be able to drive home their demands with respect to guidelines for CVFF disbursement.
NIMASA Director General also disclosed that the Minister of Transportation, Alhaji Mu’azu Jaji Sambo was yet to set-up a Committee to oversee the guidelines for CVFF disbursement.
Consequently, at the meeting with the NISA CVFF Advisory Committee led by its Chairman Dr. Edward Sohwo, the Director General of NIMASA suggested that the name of the Committee be changed with ‘CVFF’ removed to prevent any misinterpretation from the Ministry of Transportation or the larger maritime community.
While assuring the Committee that final guidelines for CVFF disbursement would be developed by a team comprising; NIMASA, PLIs and ship-owners, Jamoh encouraged the operators to reconcile their differences in order to have seamless disbursement of the CVFF.
In a separate development, NISA celebrated a successful reconciliation of aggrieved members of the association and began moves to chart a new course for effective dispute resolution, yesterday.
After months of dialogue and consultations, the Chairman of the NISA Reconciliation Committee, Prince Olayiwola Shittu submitted the Committee’s report to the Chairman of NISA Board of Trustees, Chief Isaac Jolapomo.
“We are glad to announce that there is no longer acrimony in the association as all the aggrieved members have been reconciled. I commend them for being able to set aside their differences for the purpose of advancing this association,” Prince Shittu said.
Shittu, however, noted that during the Reconciliation Committee’s activities it observed a lack of dispute resolution mechanism in the association and recommended a strategy for dispute resolution.
Delighted by the accomplishments of the Reconciliation Committee, the NISA General House agreed to retain the Committee for continuous reconciliation activities, even as it added a new mandate of reconciling NISA with other operators outside the association, especially the Ship-Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN).