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The House Committee on Shipping Services of the House of Representatives has assured that the new Shippers Council bill which has past the second reading at the lower chamber will be signed into law by June this year.
The Committee also promised that they are working on the establishment of a maritime bank to ease financial services of stakeholders in the maritime industry.
Giving the assurance, in Lagos, during a working visit to the Nigerian Shippers Council head office, Chairman of the Committee, Abdussamad Dasuki, said that a public hearing on the bill will soon be held before it will be sent to the upper chamber.
He disclosed that the Committee will work closely with the leadership of the House to assure that all the processes are done quickly so that the bill can be signed by President Bola Tinubu before the end of June.
According to him, “Any moment from now, we would be calling for a public hearing. There will be need for Shippers Council being a catalyst for our economy.
Yes. The challenges have been highlighted and the expectations that are seen for this agency and other maritime related agencies I believe will be much better when that law is passed by ye national Assembly.
“In the course of our deliberations, we have highlighted one of the successes that is expected from that bill which is the one per cent freight standardisation fund.
“The Committee will look into the possibility of championing the maritime bank so that the maritime sector or the key players will have their own bank.
“The whole idea is to stop the capital flight we have today in the sector. We look to have the support not just of the House of Representatives but of the national Assembly to make sure this is so.
“Also, we are going to have the Shippers’ together with your team to sit down and see how we can improve the services of the ship owners in Nigeria as soon as possible,” he noted.
In his welcome address, the Executive Secretary/CEO of the NSC, Pius Akutah said “The visit is happening around the time of my assumption of office. We believe that our close collaboration and corporation will see to the rapid development of the sector.”
