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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021 — 21<br />
•Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers’ Council,<br />
Hassan Bello<br />
•National President, NCMDLCA, Lucky<br />
Amewiro<br />
5. A Declaration that by<br />
virtue of Section 5 of the<br />
Constitution of Nigeria 1999;<br />
Section 4 of the Nigeria<br />
Shippers’ Council Act Cap.<br />
133, Laws of the Federation<br />
of Nigeria 2004, Regulation 3<br />
of the Nigerian Shippers’<br />
Council (Local Shipping<br />
Charges on Imports and<br />
Exports) Regulations 1997<br />
and the written directive from<br />
the Minister of Transport<br />
dated 20th February 2014, the<br />
Defendant can act as the<br />
economic regulator of<br />
Nigerian ports to issue<br />
directives, ensure fair<br />
competition; take lawful<br />
steps to make the ports userfriendly<br />
and attractive to<br />
business and regulate local<br />
shipping charges in<br />
Nigerian ports.<br />
Delivering judgement, the<br />
court, presided over by<br />
Justice Chidi Uwa dismissed<br />
the claims of the shipping<br />
companies and the terminal<br />
operators and granted the<br />
counter-claims of NSC. By<br />
this decision, shippers in<br />
Nigeria who have paid<br />
SLAC to the shipping<br />
•Chairperson of STOAN, Vicky Hastrup<br />
•Immediate past National President, ANLCA,<br />
Olayiwola Shittu<br />
companies between 2006 to<br />
date, can now seek a refund.<br />
The private terminal<br />
operators at the nation’s<br />
seaports have carried out their<br />
threat of challenging the<br />
Appeal Court judgment that<br />
declared some of their charges<br />
illegal and a penalty of over<br />
one trillion naira slammed<br />
against them.<br />
The concessionaires, under<br />
the umbrella of Seaport<br />
Terminal Operators of Nigeria,<br />
STOAN, have gone to the<br />
Supreme Court against the<br />
Nigerian Shippers’ Council<br />
and Shippers Association of<br />
Lagos State, SALS to vacate<br />
the rulings of the appellate<br />
court.<br />
They are challenging the<br />
judgment of the Court of<br />
Appeal which on January 16,<br />
2018, upheld the judgment of<br />
a Federal High Court sitting<br />
in Ikoyi, Lagos that declared<br />
the charges illegal and<br />
ordered the terminal<br />
operators to revert to the<br />
status quo on storage and port<br />
charges as at 2009.<br />
The court case which lasted<br />
over a year had affirmed the<br />
judgment of the lower court<br />
saying that the submission of<br />
the terminal operators lacked<br />
merit even as it was termed<br />
to be a mere academic work.<br />
Delivering the judgment,<br />
Justice Chidi Uwa,<br />
maintained that the appellant<br />
failed to establish its case.<br />
A reliable source in<br />
Shippers’ Council confirmed<br />
that the concessionaires went<br />
to the apex court and that the<br />
Council is waiting for the<br />
summons.<br />
A document dated February<br />
26, 2018, sighted by our<br />
reporter in Lagos, also<br />
revealed that STOAN has<br />
also hired a new Senior<br />
Advocate of Nigeria, SAN,<br />
to boost the legal team that<br />
held sway at the lower<br />
courts.<br />
Counsel to SALS, Osuala<br />
Nwagbara, while reacting to<br />
the development, said the<br />
terminal operators have<br />
eventually decided to drag<br />
NSC to the Supreme Court.<br />
Responding to allegations<br />
of not showing concern in<br />
the face of series of<br />
unauthorised levies<br />
imposed on shippers by<br />
terminal operators and ship<br />
owners, Bello explained that<br />
the justice system in the<br />
country works slowly but<br />
expressed confidence that it<br />
will lead to justice for the<br />
shippers.<br />
Bello had earlier said that<br />
importers are annually<br />
subjected to payment of<br />
N1.7 billion as container<br />
deposit fees to foreign<br />
shipping companies.<br />
He said that the Council<br />
will work at stopping the<br />
payment of container<br />
deposits before the end of<br />
the second quarter of this<br />
year.<br />
According to the NSC<br />
boss, “every shipper pays<br />
N120,000 as container<br />
deposit fee to foreign<br />
shipping companies, with<br />
the estimated total<br />
amounting to N1.7 billion<br />
every year for container<br />
deposit only. This is adding<br />
to the cost of doing business<br />
in our ports and is not the<br />
fault of the shippers, but<br />
because he cannot return<br />
the container within the<br />
specified time due to the fact<br />
that the roads are clogged<br />
up, and the holding bays are<br />
not working; so why must<br />
the shipper bear such cost?<br />
“We want indemnity system<br />
and we have already spoken<br />
with National Insurance<br />
Commission, NAICOM to<br />
bring insurance penetration<br />
into our port system.<br />
Hopefully, by the first<br />
quarter of next year, there<br />
will not be payment of<br />
container deposit again.”<br />
However, from the<br />
container throughput<br />
figures provided by NPA,<br />
importers paid N1.921<br />
billion container deposit in<br />
the first quarter. This amount<br />
is gotten from 192,164<br />
TEUs multiplied by<br />
N100,000 paid by importers<br />
for the period.<br />
For 2017 and 2018, the<br />
amount paid by the<br />
importers as container<br />
deposit stood at N66.8 and<br />
N80.9 billion respectively,<br />
according to the NSC.<br />
Speaking on the issue,<br />
President of the National<br />
Council of Managing<br />
Directors of Licensed<br />
Customs Agents,<br />
NCMDLCA, Lucky<br />
Amiwero, blamed the NSC<br />
for the delay after getting a<br />
favourable judgment at both<br />
the Federal High Court and<br />
the Court of Appeal.<br />
Amewiro explained that<br />
the Shippers’ Council<br />
should have executed that<br />
judgment by ensuring that<br />
both the shipping lines and<br />
the terminal operators<br />
comply with it.<br />
He noted that the Council<br />
has approached the court to<br />
seek the power to collect the<br />
illegal funds from the<br />
shipping lines and the<br />
terminal operators, it should<br />
go ahead to enforce the<br />
refund and warehouse it in<br />
a dedicated account until<br />
the Supreme Court decides<br />
the final position.<br />
The NCMDLCA boss<br />
pointed out that it is only in<br />
Nigeria that these kinds of<br />
charges are slammed on<br />
shippers, adding that even<br />
in neighbouring countries<br />
like Ghana, Benin, Togo and<br />
others around the world,<br />
most of these charges are<br />
unheard of.<br />
He called on the Federal<br />
Government to step in and<br />
correct the huge anomaly<br />
stressing that it is Nigerians<br />
that bear the brunt of these<br />
illegal charges.<br />
However, a top member of<br />
the Association of Nigerian<br />
Licensed Customs Agents,<br />
ANLCA, who refused to be<br />
mentioned said that they are<br />
aware that an out-of-court<br />
settlement is being worked<br />
out but insisted that details<br />
cannot be revealed yet.<br />
The source, however,<br />
warned our reporter to be<br />
careful, noting that though<br />
“these people” have not<br />
started harming journalists<br />
does not mean that they<br />
cannot.<br />
C<br />
M<br />
Y<br />
K