By Stephen Ubanna
Bashir Jamoh, Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, is a happy man. Jamoh’s source of happiness is the Supreme Court, Headed by Justice, Olukayode Ariwooa, ‘’a win –win judgment’ that’’ NIMASA and the National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA, under the the close watch of Nurudeen Bola Oyebamiji, should control the activities in the country’s Inland, waters’’.
Jamoh, the maritime regulatory agency, Chief Executive Officer, CEO, has every reason to be happy. This is because for over 15 years, the Lagos state Water Ways Authority, LASWA, which was said to have been established during the Administration of Babatunde Fashola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and who incidentally was the immediate past minister of Works and Housing under former President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration under the Law which came into force in 2008.
Going by the implementation of the LASWA Law by the then Fashola- led government, the state was said to have collected billions of naira as revenue from operators in the sector by imposing different levies, taxes and issuing licenses to operators in the industry for a fee.
The levies, taxes and other fees collected from the Inland Waterways operators appears to be eating into the purse of the members of the Association of Tourist Boat Operators and Water Transportation of Nigeria, ATBOWTN, and the Dredgers Association of Nigeria, DAN, who could no longer take it. This may have informed why the aggrieved incorporated Trustees of two Associations had dragged the Lagos state government to a Federal High Court in Lagos, to seek an end to such in 2012.
The two Associations were said to have headed to the Federal High Court ‘’to determine whether it is the Lagos state Government, and its agency, LASWA, or the Federal Government through its maritime agencies, NIMWA and NIMASA that are empowered by Law to issue license and impose levy and fines on Boat Operators operating in the nation’s inland water Ways.
In ruling on the initial case, Justice John Tsoho may have dampened the enthusiasms of the Lagos state government as he has stopped state from collecting levies or arrogate to itself the exclusive power to issue licenses to Boat operators within the state Inland waters.
The trial Judge had ruled that only NIWA and NIMASA, are the Federal government maritime agencies, controlled by the newly created ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, that have the Authority’’ to levy and issue licenses in matters relating to the Commercial activities of ATBOWTN and DAN. This is because they are involved in water tourism, water transportation and dredging within the nation’s inland waterways.
Akinwunmi Ambode, immediate past governor of Lagos state have not found the Federal High Court judgment funny as he headed to the Appeal Court, which had nullified the Federal High Court judgment of Mach 28, 2014, on July 8, 2017, on the matter. The argument of the trial Judge of the Appeal Court in nullifying the Federal High Court ‘s ruling was that the inland Waterways within Lagos state were not captured by the NIWA Act’’ , and therefore are still within the Legislative competence of the state Legislative Assembly.The Court was said to have given the Lagos state government the nod to still go ahead and be collecting levies, taxes and fees on businesses on waterways which start and terminates in the state.
The Appeal Court Judgment may have infuriated the Authorities of NIWA, NIMASA and two others that they headed to the Supreme Court to challenge the Appeal Court’s ruling on the matter.
On Friday, January 5, 2024, the apex Court which had agreed with Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, now the minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation , AGF, that, that NIWA is the only statutory government agency mandated with the responsibility of levying, imposing and charging rates of utilization along the declared water waters of NIWA ruled in favour of the agency.
. The apex court had clarified that ‘’the maritime agency is the only rightful and legal agency of the government at the federal level with ‘’the powers ‘’to exclusively manage , direct and control all activities on the navigable waters and its right of way throughout the country for Inland Navigation, pursuant to section 8 and 9 of NIWA Act.
Recall that the AGF had said that the Waterways with Lagos state , among other inland waterways across the country , that fall under the Exclusive Legislative List as set out in Part 1, of the Second Schedule to the 199 Constitution , as amended belong to the Federal government.
Until the Supreme Court came out with its ruling on control of the Inlands water ways within Lagos state, the Authorities of LASWA and NIWA, were said to have set up a Committee to review tariffs, being paid by tariff operators in the state.
Oluwadamilola Emmanuel, General Manager, may have hit the nail on the head when he disclosed that the Committee had been put together by the two agencies from the state and Federal level , ‘’to harmonise the tariffs paid by Boat operators in order to have one purse where levies, taxes, and operating licensing fees could be paid and the revenue collected will be shared by the two agencies of government He noted that the essence of the discussion between LASWA and NIWA officials is to ensure that ‘’there is no more double taxation of Boat operators an Dredgers.
An elated Jamoh, had said in his official X handle, that the apex Court judgment should bring ‘’to an end issues of ambiguity and multiple taxation, as states, will no longer levy investors, being a responsibility of the government and its agencies at the federal level’’.
He noted that judgment would go a long way to improving the ease od doing business in the nation’s maritime sector and ultimately attract more investment from both local foreign investors.
The NIMASA , Director General, who could not hide his feelings, had told those that cares to listen, the Supreme Court ruling will go a long to further facilitate the government’s effort to exploit the potentials of the over 10,000 Kilometers of the country’s inland waterways,
Appealing to the Lagos state government and other state governments across the country to embrace the apex Court ruling on control of Inland waters, and collaborate with NIWA and NIMASA, his own agency, he noted that ‘’this is the only way to better harness the country’s maritime potentials for the benefit of all Nigerians.