Shippers’ Council, TUGAR Move To Ensure Corrupt-free Seaport

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), the Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-corruption Reforms (TUGAR), and the Port Steering Committee (PSC), have pledged to ensure eradication of corruption at the Nigeria Seaports.

They made the commitments on Tuesday in Abuja when the TUGAR and the PSC team visited the executive secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council.

Speaking at the meeting, the executive secretary/CEO of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Barr. Akutah Pius said he would promote the use of Nigeria Port Process Manual (NPPM), which has helped in the drastic reduction of corruption at the port.

Recall that in 2021, the federal government launched the NPPM in an effort to enhance Nigeria’s ranking on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), boost transparency, eliminate bottlenecks and illegal demands within the region’s seaports and terminals.

The manual is a compilation of various processes extracted from standard operating procedures of stakeholders in the port sector with the aim is to improve operations, service timelines, efficiency and accountability in the port sector.

The agencies that pledged support for the implementation of NPPM include: the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

The Shippers’ Council boss also called for the deployment of more security personnel to the port to ease enforcement.

Speaking earlier, the head of TUGAR, Jane Onwumere said they were at the Shippers’ Council office to seek more cooperation in the areas of implementing the recommendations of the Corruption Risks Assessment of the Nigerian ports.

She also called on the Shippers’ Council to update the harmonised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).