President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) with immediate effect.

The Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo, said this during the flag-off ceremony of Batch B of the third phase of the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) TERRA 11 in Lagos on Saturday.

The NSDP is a platform provided by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to consolidate its position in the maritime industry through a solid seafaring manpower base.

“We will disburse the funds in days to come to the beneficiaries deserving of it, as we have made a case that the funds belong to shipowners.

“Mr president is a man who respects the law, and he is on the same page with us that we should proceed with immediate effect,” the minister said.

Mr Sambo said his ministry would collaborate with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the finance ministry in disbursing the funds.

The minister noted that the agency had pledged to the president that it would allow the funds to go into the Treasury Single Account.

He, however, said whenever the money hit the threshold of $50 million, the CBN, upon recommendation from NIMASA and the federal ministry of transportation, would inspect the transfer of the funds to the primary lending institutions.

“In this regard, five primary lending institutions have been approved by Mr President to do the disbursement.

“This milestone development, together with this ceremony, go hand in hand because there is a nexus between seafaring, ship, capacity building and making sure ships are available.

“With this approval, I am sure our indigenous capacity will grow higher, and not even the sky will be the limit,” he said.

Mr Sambo noted that his predecessor had administrative challenges with the federal ministry of finance, and that was why he could not disburse the funds.

He said the agency had identified those gaps and that they had been addressed.

“The five banks selected for the disbursement are Union Bank of Nigeria, Polaris Bank, Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa and Jaiz Bank.

“The banks were selected based on criteria set out in the guidelines, the enabling law and guidelines for the disbursement of the funds as approved by the National Assembly,” he said.

The transportation ministry said to avoid the pitfalls of the past, the guidelines were very clear; the applicants for the funds would make an equity contribution of 50 per cent, NIMASA 35 per cent and banks 15 per cent.

He pointed out that the agency would put in place an administrative structure so that loan applications were professionally scrutinised.

“The approval for the disbursement got to my office late Friday, and on Monday, the NIMASA DG will take immediate steps to see to the disbursement,” he said.

Bashir Jamoh, director-general, NIMASA, noted that the money at hand was two folds; N16 billion or $350 million.

Mr Jamoh said the agency would develop an action plan with a timeline that would be made available to everybody for them to know when the first cheque would be signed to the beneficiaries.

(NAN)