LONDON: To combat corruption at the ports, the Federal Government is to introduce Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).
Under the SOP regime, importers will know operators’ services; their types of business; how they do it; how long it takes them to deliver and their scope.
The plan followed the submission of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP’s) report on its assessment of risks at the ports to the Federal Government.
The assessment, it was gathered, is an anti-corruption report on agencies at the ports.
The agencies are the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Port Health, terminal operators and other agencies at the ports.
The government has raised a committee, comprising the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Transparency Unit of Government and anti-corruption agency in Nigeria (TUGA) and UNDP to fashion the SOP.
A senior official of the Federal Ministry of Transport, who pleaded not to be named, said the SOP would promote transparency, accountability, efficiency and good services at the ports.
All the ports’ agencies, he said, are expected to submit their operation manuals to the NSC for harmonisation.
The official said: “The UNDP funded the original risk assessment report, which is an anti-corruption report. After the assessment of the risks in the Nigerian ports, the committee was set up, asking everyone to submit their SOPs and the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as port economic regulator was appointed to harmonise it.
“The SOP involves the terminal operators and other organisations that are operating within the ports.
“The purpose of the SOP is for port users, stakeholders and the public to know what each of the agencies is doing in the port. For officers, who are also operating in the port, it’s a guide for them to know what they should do, and the core point is to promote transparency, accountability, efficiency and good services.
