Investor flees Nigeria after being paid N32b for vessels

January 20, 2016

The Natin has it that Mn investor got N32 billion for vessels, which he never delivered, a minister said yesterday.
Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi said the unnamed investor fled after collecting the cash during the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration.
The money was paid from the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), which indigenous ship owners last month urged Amaechi and Acting Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Director-General Haruna Baba Jauro to speak on.
The CVFF was created by the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act, 2003 to promote ship acquisition by supporting ship owners.
Section 42, Part VIII of Section 44 of the Act empowers NIMASA to collect and administer the fund, under guidelines by the Minister of Transport, after approval by the National Assembly.
The fund was established to boost local content in the shipping industry.
Amaechi, who spoke yesterday in Abuja when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, did not name the investor.

Amaechi said about N300 billion was released to encourage investors in the maritime sector by the last administration but the many went down the drain.
He said: “In fact, there is a particular man who collected N32billion and left the country. I don’t think that the Federal Government needed to release N52bn to investors in the maritime industry.
“What we are considering is to facilitate a partnership arrangement between the operators and foreign investors in which case we can support Nigerians who had shown serious interest in the business with about 40 percent of the investment while their foreign partners bring 60 percent. That will assure us that we would recoup our investment.

Learn more from- http://goo.gl/xWQ4Ch

You may also like: