The Marine and Blue Economy Ministry, yesterday, said it would generate N200 billion in its first year, an ambition that may pose serious challenges for the ministries of Petroleum Resource and Transportation unless concerted efforts are taken to correct prevailing misalignment.
Coupled with the divisions in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources where there are different ministers for gas and petroleum, stakeholders told The Guardian that possibilities of double taxation may hit operators in the sector as well as the transport industry.
The stakeholders also fear that the development may also lead to more worries for players across the sectors as they insisted that unless technology is deployed to tackle the prevailing corruption and lack of transparency in revenue collection, the projected gains of the sectors would be elusive.
Legal practitioner and marine/petroleum consultant, Tony Dania, who spoke with The Guardian noted that while the new ministry of marine and blue economy would harness the benefits of the sector for Nigeria to the tune of N200 billion in the first year, there is an urgent need to create jurisdiction and amend enabling laws to address the lapses with the oil and gas sector and the transportation industry.
Operators across the sector would require clarity as well as the different agencies within the sector, especially the Nigerian Port Authority, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and others, he noted.
“So which ministry will you say NPA is under now, will it still be the Ministry of Transportation or Marine and Blue Economy? Naturally, it’s under marine and blue sea but if they want to make concessions and sign an agreement who will be signing?
Calling for a proper framework, he said the attorney general must quickly create leeway for the ministries with necessary legislative backing and proper separation.
“We need to come up with an inter-ministerial joint committee. Because there is no strict dichotomy between the jurisdictions of each of the Ministries, for example, the blue economy is anything on the water, oil and gas also use the water, power gets its energy from water. So there’s a need for some collaborative arrangement among all the ministries.
Worried about the level of corruption in the maritime industry and the possible multiple taxation that would require oil and gas and power industries to get permits from the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, Dania said there is a need to immediately make licenses and approvals a technology-based process.
Chairman of the International Energy Services Limited, Dr Diran Fawibe, said the two portfolios in the oil and gas sector with two state ministers would compound the challenges operators have been facing.
Coming at a time that the industry is calling for the merger of the two regulators in the sector, Fawibe said the sense behind the separation is not clear.
“I think it’s a wrong approach to the development of Nigeria’s oil and gas resources. What do we need two ministers for, we continue to make the mistakes over time,” Diran said.
