Author: Saint Augustine

The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside has said the Agency will revisit the procedure of wreck removal from Nigerian waterways. The DG who made this declaration while speaking at a forum of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, said the review of the wreck removal process became inevitable, in order to enhance the efficiency of the process. According to him “NIMASA is working under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Transportation to review wreck removal process in order to make Nigerian navigable waters safer for navigation by all. Once…

The PTML command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said that it was unaware that officers of the command were collecting 70% duty on all imported used vehicles describing the news as a “fabricated rumour”. The Command’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. Steve Okonmah who was reacting to a news report which suggested that the command began collection of the said 70% on all imported used vehicles challenged anybody with documentary evidence of such collection to come up with such evidence. According to him,” I am not aware of that development. As far as I am concerned, the person…

The Public Relations Officer, (PRO) of the PTML Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr. Steve Okonmah has faulted a media report which had earlier suggested his statement to mean an apology from the Service adding that he had no authority to speak for the Service as an organization. A maritime industry newspaper (not Primetime Reporters) had reported that, “The Nigerian Customs Service yesterday corrected what it admitted as a error in the collection of 70% duty on imported used vehicles which was exclusively reported yesterday. It blamed the error on its technical partners Webb Fontaine. “Speaking with our…

The Western Marine Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has confiscated 43 Jumbo bags of Cannabis worth N250, 000, 000 (two hundred and fifty million naira) at the Agbara/Badagry axis smuggled into the country from Ghana. The Customs Area Controller (CAC) of the command, Comptroller Yusuf Umar who disclosed this while conducting journalists round the seizure alongside the Zonal Coordinator, Zone A of the NCS, Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) Charles Edike siad that the seizure was made possible following an intelligence report that some smugglers would be smuggling the cannabis into the country from Ghana. Umar informed that on…

The National President, National Council of Managing Director of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Mr. Lucky Amiwero has called the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari to the recent increase in the shipping companies charge with what is called Government and Port Taxes. Speaking in a letter he addressed to the President and copied to the Vice President, the Honorable Minister of Transportation, the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Amiwero alleged that the increase captioned Government and Port Taxes was charged at thirty-eight thousand Naira(N38,000,00) per container without any government intervention…

The Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Rivers State in the 2015 general elections, Dr. Dakuku Peterside has described as laughable the constitution of a Judicial Commission of Inquiry by Governor Nyesom Wike to investigate the alleged violence that marred the December 10, 2016 rerun election in the state. Peterside likened the action of Governor Wike to the proverbial witch who cried the previous night and the child died the following day, adding that the governor had no shame as he continues to ridicule the office he occupied. Questioning the moral justification for the governor’s action, Dr.…

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has said that it has shut down 3 jetties and port facilities for non compliance with the provisions of the International Ships and Ports Facilities Security (ISPS) Code. A statement signed by the Head, Corporate Communications NIMASA, Hajia Lami Tumaka gave the names of the facilities as; Heyden Petroleum Jetty situated at Ijora, Lagos, Waziri Jetty, located at Dockyard Road Apapa Lagos and Starz Marine Shipyard Limited Onne in Rivers State. The statement noted that those facilities  had persistently failed to comply with the ISPS code necessitating their closure so as to…

The Customs Area Controller (CAC) of the Tincan Island Ports Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Comptroller Yusuf Bashar has said that  the command had handed over weapons and accessories of weapons, Military uniforms and boots for the fourth time in a row since he assumed office at the command. Bashar who made this known in a press briefing he held at the command headquarters in Lagos on Monday where he displayed arms, military kits and military already made food seized by the command alongside a suspect recently said that he had continued to hand over seized arms and…

A maritime practitioner, Mr. Lucky Amiwero has faulted the extension of the Oil and Gas Free Zone to Lagos and Warri saying that the development contravenes the spirit and letters of the Act establishing the Oil and Gas Free Zone Authority. Amiwero who disclosed this in a letter he wrote to the President, Muhammadu Buhari also said that the imposition of single sourcing of Oil and Gas Logistics for INTELS was in clear contravention of various legal provisions with regards to Oil and Gas Free Zone and port operation. He informed that the Oil and Gas Export Free Zone Act…

The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman has urged the staff of the agency to redirect themselves towards efficient service delivery to the nation. NPA, Ms Usman said, would always promote productivity and enthrone accountability in its operations. Speaking during the long service awards ceremony organised by the authority in Lagos, Ms Usman informed them that the management had decided to review their rent allowances next year and told them the need to carry out their official responsibilities diligently and in line with best practices. The Managing Director who was represented by the Executive Director Finance…