Stakeholders demand cabotage fund audit – Daily Trust

Indigenous shipowners have referred to as for an impartial forensic audit of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) following conflicting accounts by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and its former Director-General, Temisan Omatseye, over the fund’s administration, foreign money denomination and monetary standing.

The shipowners need NIMASA’s accounts audited from 2004 to this point to ascertain the fund’s precise worth, amassed contributions, withdrawals and funding returns.

The demand adopted Omatseye’s declare that he left N52bn in mounted deposits, comprising the CVFF and Maritime Fund, when he exited workplace in December 2010.

Omatseye, who headed NIMASA between July 2009 and December 2010, stated the conversion of dollar-denominated funds into naira was carried out on the directive of the Accountant-General of the Federation to maximise curiosity earnings.

He defined that whereas greenback deposits attracted rates of interest of between one and two per cent, naira deposits provided returns of greater than 15 per cent on the time.

According to him, the choice to transform the funds was knowledgeable by the necessity to safe higher returns moderately than permit the cash to stay in low-interest overseas foreign money deposits.

However, NIMASA has rejected the declare, insisting that the greenback element of the CVFF was by no means transformed into naira.

In an announcement signed by its Director-General, Dr Dayo Mobereola, the company stated greenback contributions remained domiciled in {dollars} with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), whereas naira contributions had been retained in native foreign money.

The conflicting accounts have raised contemporary questions in regards to the administration of the fund, notably the foreign money through which contributions had been held, the curiosity accrued through the years and the extent to which successive administrations accounted for the assets.

Reacting to the dispute, former President of the National Association of Master Mariners, Capt. Tajudeen Alao, referred to as for a complete audit of NIMASA’s accounts from 2004 to this point to resolve the controversy.

Alao stated solely an impartial examination of the company’s monetary information would set up the precise place of the fund and reconcile the conflicting claims by previous and current administration.

He additionally expressed concern over the extended failure to disburse the CVFF, saying the delay had undermined its authentic goal and contributed to the difficulties confronting indigenous transport operators.

According to him, many native operators have been unable to maintain their companies due to the excessive value of buying vessels and the problem of accessing long-term financing.

He argued that the continued absence of an accessible financing scheme had weakened indigenous participation within the transport trade, regardless of the nation’s maritime commerce potential.

Alao, nevertheless, cautioned that entry to the fund needs to be tied to the capability of potential beneficiaries to handle vessels and safe cargo.

He urged the federal government to think about cargo ensures and ship-management capability as key eligibility necessities to make sure that loans obtained from the fund had been correctly utilised and repaid.

Beyond the CVFF controversy, Omatseye additionally criticised the capability of Nigerian business banks to finance large-scale transport investments, arguing that their short-term lending fashions had been unsuitable for the capital-intensive nature of the trade.

He stated the acquisition of refined vessels, notably liquefied pure gasoline (LNG) tankers, required substantial capital and lengthy reimbursement intervals that native banks had been largely unable to accommodate.

“There is money available for this, and I keep telling people that we can never be competitive in our shipping industry because of what? Sorry, bankers may not like this. The banks in Nigeria do not have the capacity to finance shipping. One LNG tanker alone is about $250m. Repayment cannot be less than 15 years. I’m sorry to say this again, our banks are just traders looking for short-term loans,” he said.

Similarly, President of the Nigeria Shipowners Association (NISA), Alhaji Adewumi, insisted that the CVFF ought to stay denominated in {dollars}, arguing that the fund’s pointers didn’t present for conversion into naira.

He famous that shipowners continued to make funds in {dollars} and questioned why their contributions needs to be transformed into the native foreign money.

Adewumi urged NIMASA and the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy to make clear Omatseye’s claims, noting that the previous director-general had beforehand occupied the company’s high place.

He maintained that if the authorities supposed to retain the fund in naira, they need to clarify the rationale, notably as shipowners continued to make their shipping-related funds and contributions in {dollars}.

He, nevertheless, acknowledged that he was indirectly concerned within the administration of the fund and was counting on the provisions of the rules and data accessible to him.

The controversy follows earlier considerations over discrepancies in figures launched by NIMASA relating to the fund’s amassed contributions.

In March 2023, the company disclosed that naira collections stood at about N37.57bn, whereas greenback contributions amounted to roughly $269.38m as of October 2022.

The transformed worth of the greenback collections introduced the mixed steadiness to about N148.05bn on the prevailing alternate price. NIMASA, nevertheless, stated the figures had been topic to reconciliation.

Established beneath the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act 2003, the CVFF was designed to supply monetary help to indigenous shipowners for vessel acquisition and strengthen native participation in Nigeria’s coastal and inland transport commerce.

The fund was anticipated to deal with one of many main challenges dealing with native operators: entry to inexpensive long-term financing for buying and sustaining vessels.

However, greater than 20 years after the enactment of the Cabotage Act, the extended delay in making the fund accessible has remained a significant concern amongst trade operators.

Shipowners argue that the scenario has left Nigerian firms struggling to compete with overseas transport companies, which frequently have higher entry to worldwide financing, bigger fleets and extra beneficial borrowing circumstances.

The Federal Government has, nevertheless, renewed efforts to begin disbursement to certified beneficiaries.

At the 2026 Annual Summit of the Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria in Lagos, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, directed NIMASA to speed up the method.

The authorities additionally launched a devoted utility portal in January 2026 and elevated the variety of collaborating Primary Lending Institutions from 5 to 12 to facilitate entry to the fund.

The involvement of extra lending establishments is anticipated to widen entry for certified indigenous operators and strengthen the evaluation and administration of mortgage functions.

However, stakeholders insist that the federal government’s disbursement plans should be accompanied by a clear account of the fund’s monetary historical past.

They argue that an impartial forensic audit ought to set up the whole contributions obtained since inception, the foreign money composition of the funds, investments made, curiosity accrued and any withdrawals or transfers carried out through the years.