Get Guardian on Google• Stakeholders demand forensic probe of fund management
The continued inability of indigenous shipowners to access the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) for over 22 years, as well as the controversy surrounding the amount contributed by the present and former Director-Generals of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has again heightened uncertainty about the funds, actual accruals and interest generated in both the CVFF account and the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
Even officials at NIMASA, the Federal Ministry of Transportation, the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Ministry of Finance are uncertain about the fund’s whereabouts and have given conflicting figures.
This has led maritime stakeholders to demand a forensic audit of the account from 2004 to date before disbursement to the indigenous shipowners that applied for the funds.
The present DG of NIMASA, Dr Dayo Mobereola, and the former, Temisan Omatseye, differed last week over the conversion of the fund’s dollar component to naira.
Omatseye said the agency had N52 billion in fixed deposit when he left office in December 2010, which comprised both the CVFF and the Maritime Fund, adding that the conversion of dollar-denominated funds into naira was carried out on the directive of the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), based on the interest rates offered by commercial banks on naira and dollar deposits at the time.
The Guardian found that the fund was initially quoted at $195 million and in 2019 to 2020, the then DG of NIMASA, Dakuku Peterside, claimed it had reached $200 million.
His successor, Dr Bashir Jamoh, in 2023, said $350 million was available as the dollar component, alongside a N16 billion naira component.
A former Minister of State for Transportation, Gbemisola Saraki, also confirmed the $350 million figure but acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding the actual balance.
However, in May 2023, the House of Representatives disclosed that the CVFF account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) held $360 million.
Most recently, Mobereola, said the fund now stands at $700 million.
Meanwhile, a document obtained from NIMASA by Borderless Ltd/ Gte through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, detailing transactions from January 2007 to October 2022, revealed that N20,613,344,488.8 was transferred from local banks to the TSA, while N16,953,322,635.17 was paid directly into the TSA, bringing total naira collections to N37,566,667,123.97.
For the dollar collections, $257,228,760.32 was paid directly to the CBN/Access Bank and $12,147,632.66 held by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation, totaling $269,376,392.98.
The FOI requests by the Nigerian content advocacy group also uncovered alarming mismanagement of accrued interest, which the group’s founder, Tunde Kasamotu, said raises serious questions about financial accountability and stewardship.
Regarding interest accrued, only figures from the dollar accounts were disclosed. The default Afribank generated $1,516,928.14; Platinum/ Keystone Bank accrued $40,326.46; Access Bank earned $11,594.32, while Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) held $43,333.81.
Kasamotu said this raised questions about the accuracy of the reported funds and suggested potential misreporting or misallocation between accounts.
He called for a thorough forensic audit of the CVFF accounts, noting that discrepancies between figures for different years and unexplained variations in surcharge and waiver amounts indicated a need for greater transparency and accuracy in financial reporting.
The lawyer urged the Federal Government to commission a forensic audit of the account before disbursement.
Kasamotu emphasised that the insistence on full disclosure is driven by the public’s right to know how funds intended to support the development of the domestic shipping industry are being managed and utilised.
Former President of the National Association of Master Mariners (NAMM), Capt. Tajudeen Alao said an independent audit would help resolve the controversy over the fund’s management and currency denomination.
Alao maintained that a comprehensive audit would establish the facts, promote transparency and address the lingering questions surrounding the financial status of the CVFF.
