Contrary to speculation in the Nigerian maritime industry that funding for the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences (SPOMO) Act will erode indigenous ship-owners contributions made into the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) which currently stands around $195m, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) over the weekend assured that the maritime administration won’t be sourcing for funds to implement the anti-piracy law from the contributions as there are other funding options available for the SPOMO Act implementation.
Addressing maritime journalists in Lagos, the Director-General of NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh explained that the CVFF is just one out of five funding options available for the SPOMO Act.
According to the NIMASA DG, “Yes, the CVFF is one of the options stated in the SPOMO Act where funds can be obtained to implement the anti-piracy law. However, it is just one out of five options.
“If you read the SPOMO Act very well, you will see that the Act says that NIMASA, under the supervision of the Minister, shall establish and maintain a fund which will be known as the Piracy and Maritime Offences Fund otherwise referred to as the Maritime Fund. It is this fund that will be used for the implementation of the SPOMO Act.
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“To get funds into the Maritime Fund, the SPOMO Act lists five options which the CVFF is just one of them. The first option of funding for the SPOMO Act will come from money approved each year by the Federal Government.
“The second option of funding for the SPOMO Act will come from gifts, financial contributions by beneficiaries of the services of the maritime law enforcement agencies.
“The third option of funding for SPOMO Act will come from 35 per cent of the proceeds of sales of any property seized and forfeited under the Act, including instruments used in the commission of crimes and criminal activities under the Act.
“The fourth source of funding for the SPOMO Act will be a contribution from the Maritime Fund under the NIMASA Act.
“The fifth and final source of funding for the SPOMO Act will be a contribution from the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) under the Coastal and Inland Shipping (CABOTAGE) Act.
“So, you see that the CVFF is just one out of many sources of funding for the SPOMO Act, and it is at the discretion of the Maritime Administration to decide where to get funds from. I will like to use this medium to assure indigenous ship-owners that the CVFF is safe and intact. Nothing is going to happen to the CVFF.
“There are so many funding options available for the implementation of the SPOMO Act, and we won’t be using the CVFF for that since we have other options.”
The CVFF is an accumulated fund that represents a two per cent contribution by indigenous ship owners on every contract done in Nigeria’s maritime sector. The disbursement of the fund is backed by the provisions of Section 42(1)-(2) of the Cabotage Act 2003, which aims to promote the development of indigenous ship acquisition capacity by providing financial assistance to Nigerian operators in domestic coastal shipping.
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