LAGOS (SUNDIATA POST)- Mr Pius Akutah, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) said the council under his leadership saved the country over N46 billion in the last year.
Akutah disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Lagos to mark his one year in office.
He said that N40 billion was saved through confirmation of reasonableness of demurrage, freight rates, and charter party agreements.
He said that six billion Naira came from the use of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism of its complaints unit.
According to him, N40 billion savings was due to an innovative application developed by the council eight months ago, automating calculations for freight, charter fees and others.
“We have saved this country over N40 billion in the last year by confirming the reasonableness of party charter fees, and all that.
“The economy would have been worse off if that money was not saved.
“And this was done because of an app that we introduced in the last eight or nine months.
“It has helped us to automate the system for calculation of the reasonableness of freight, charter, fees and other things,” he said.
He commended the complaint unit of NSC for the work they have done in the last one year.
He said that the council had also improved the quality of trade by a singular act of resolving those conflicts in an ADR manner.
Akutah mentioned other significant strides achieved by the council, which include efforts at promoting trade and efficiency to move the industry forward.
According to him, one of the council’s notable achievements is the passage of the Nigerian Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill by the House of Representatives, which is now awaiting Senate concurrence.
Akutah expressed optimism that the Senate will give its concurrence in the coming weeks, paving the way for the President’s assent.
He said that the bill when passed into law, would enhance the council’s efficiency and also provide the opportunity to harmonise trade laws within Africa.
“I believe that in the coming weeks, the Senate will give its concurrence for that bill and we await the assent of President Bola Tinubu.
“I believe that the bill is one of the major initiatives that Mr President is taking to reposition this sector towards economic growth, economic boom, and job creation.
“The law is coming into being to reposition the industry in terms of what is happening globally concerning trade and commerce, and even within the African territory,” Akutah said.(NAN)
