ABUJA: Nigerian National Petroleum Corp’s authority to ban around 100 crude tankers from its waters has been questioned by a senior Nigerian lawyer.
“Shipowners shouldn’t take everything that comes out of the government as gospel,” said senior advocate of Nigeria, Olasupo Shasore.
NNPC does not have the power to ban the tankers from Nigeria’s territorial waters, he said at London International Shipping Week.
The power lies with the Nigerian Ports Authority or the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency, pointed out Mr Shasore, a former governor of Lagos.
NNPC could be being used as a mouthpiece for a national security measure, he said. In which case, details on the precise reasons for the ban could be classified now, and will probably emerge “in the fullness of time”.
But the point stands that NNPC does not have the power to instigate such a ban, which is a “huge jurisdictional mistake”.
Many tanker owners with vessels on the ban list remain baffled by the measure, as some of the vessels have never sailed to Nigeria.
Despite repeated attempts to contact the Nigerian government by Lloyd’s List, no clarification of the tanker ban list has to date been made.
Tanker industry association Intertanko issued a letter of protest to Nigerian National Petroleum Corp in July, to no avail.
The ban and the lack of clear reasons highlight some of the challenges in doing business with Nigeria, despite new opportunities opening up in relation to Nigeria’s ports.
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