Daily Watch – Row over Right of Way brews, Eastern ports see more action

Data from the Nigerian Ports Authority’s Shipping Position shows that more vessels are berthing at the country’s eastern ports. The development, the report said, may not be unconnected to the congestion on the roads leafing to the main Apapa port in Lagos and eastern ports reducing charges among other incentives. The Punch reported that there are currently 165 vessels moored at the eastern ports of Calabar, Rivers, and Onne. At the Rivers port, there are 50 vessels while 11 vessels are being expected. Calabar has eight vessels while one is being expected. Onne, which is one of the largest oil and gas free zones in the world, has about 107 vessels while 12 are expected. All the vessels, the report said arrived this month. The Lagos Port Complex of Apapa and Tin Can Island has received 78 vessels while 61 are expected. The situation was the reverse in December 2019 as the Lagos port complex received 13 vessels while Calabar, Rivers and Warri ports berthed a total of six vessels; three, one and two respectively. The NPA Managing Director, Hadiza Bala-Usman said the decision to direct cargoes to ports outside Lagos was in the hands of the importers, adding nobody could force the importers to direct their cargoes to eastern ports.

The Federal Government has criticised a rise in Right of Way charges by some state governors and asked them to reverse their decision. The National Economic Council, chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, resolved that telecom operators were to pay ₦145 per linear metre to lay fibre cable anywhere in the country. Some state governors, however, increased the fee to between ₦3, 000 and ₦6, 000 per linear metre. The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, who expressed regrets that the states increased the RoW charges despite making inputs into resolutions reached by the NE, asked the governors of the concerned states to reverse the decision to increase the charges. The minister said the action of the state governments would undermine Nigeria’s socio-economic development, particularly efforts to deepen broadband penetration. He added that the development would also increase the cost of operations of the telecoms operators leading to a higher cost of telecommunications services. The NEC, in 2013, set up a committee comprising state governors and ministers to review the issues of multiple taxations in the sector and its impact in Nigeria. Specifically, to deepen broadband penetration for the social and economic development of the country, the committee agreed to the uniform Right of Way charge of ₦145.00 per linear meter of fibre.

The Nigerian Bottling Company has announced the appointment of Matthieu Seguin to succeed George Polymenakos as the company’s Managing Director effective immediately. Polymenakos was appointed in August 2016. Seguin, until his appointment, was the General Manager for Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland for almost four years. According to the Public Affairs and Communications Director, Ekuma Eze, Seguin will lead the organization, and its over 2,700 employees to deliver growth, business optimisation and profitability for the Coca-Cola Hellenic business in Nigeria. Eze described Seguin as a thoroughbred professional with multi-industry experience and a remarkable track record in business turnaround as he had served in different capacities in top management positions. Seguin previously worked in NBC as the commercial director between 2011 and 2016. Seguin is an alumnus of the INSEAD School of Business, IMD Business School and Ecole de Management de Normandie. He served on various boards including; Member of Board of Repak Ireland; Member of the IBEC National Council and Chairman of Food Drink, Ireland’s Prepared Consumer Foods Council.

The National Bureau of Statistics’ data showed that State governors in Nigeria shared the sum of ₦2.53 trillion in gross allocations from January – November 2019. The report indicated that the revenue crisis the country faced in 2019 took its toll on the federal allocation pot, as the allocated funds to states for the period under review dropped by ₦49.56 billion. Specifically, federal allocation disbursed to states dropped to ₦2.53 trillion in 2019, from ₦2.58 trillion allocated within the period in 2018. The breakdown of allocation disbursed showed that Delta, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Lagos, Bayelsa, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Katsina, and Imo were the top 10 states that received the largest portion of the federal allocation. Major oil-producing states suffered a decline in the allocation even though Delta remains the biggest recipient with a paycheck of ₦214.4 billion. But the allocation to the state dropped by ₦1.05 billion when compared to ₦215.4 billion received in 2018. Akwa Ibom maintained the second spot with a total sum of ₦169.79 billion but also saw a ₦27.8 billion drop in its allocation compared to 2018. Rivers ranks third on the list with a gross allocation of ₦154.5 billion, a ₦15.3 billion decline from the ₦169.8 billion received in 2018. Lagos, bucking a general trend, witnessed a rise in its federal allocations from ₦143.9 billion in 2018 to ₦152.4 billion. Other states among the top 10 recipients are Kano (₦82.3 billion), Kaduna (₦66.9 billion), Edo (N66.5 billion), Katsina (₦62.5 billion) and Imo (₦62.1 billion).