By Anita Dennis
The House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration has moved to recalibrate its oversight of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), setting stricter performance benchmarks and binding accountability measures to the agency’s 2026 budget.
The position emerged during NIMASA’s budget defence on Tuesday last week, where lawmakers adopted a firmer posture on governance standards across maritime institutions, including the Maritime Academy of Nigeria. The committee made it clear that weak service delivery, imprecise projections and opaque reporting would no longer pass legislative scrutiny.
Chairperson of the committee, Khadija Abba-Ibrahim, framed the exercise as a decisive accountability test rather than a routine budget review. She stated that heads of agencies must take full responsibility for both their financial estimates and operational outcomes, particularly at a time when new members of the committee are engaging more deeply with the sector.
NIMASA, according to figures presented, is projecting gross revenue of about N724 billion for 2026. Its expenditure plan spans recurrent obligations, capital investments, maritime security operations, infrastructure upgrades and seafarer development programmes.
Abba-Ibrahim acknowledged the agency’s strategic role in maritime safety and trade facilitation but emphasised that recognition would be contingent on verifiable outcomes. She directed the agency to articulate a clear strategic roadmap for 2026, with defined responses to persistent challenges such as maritime insecurity, operational inefficiencies and gaps in human capital development.
Lawmakers requested detailed, data-driven submissions covering safety interventions, revenue optimisation frameworks, workforce capacity plans and the status of ongoing and proposed projects. They reiterated that the maritime sector remains central to Nigeria’s economic architecture and must demonstrate tangible progress, particularly in strengthening security, supporting indigenous shipping and sustaining growth.
While expressing willingness to support reforms, the committee underscored that future budget approvals would be conditional on transparency and measurable performance indicators.
Responding, NIMASA Director-General, Dayo Mobereola, said that the agency commenced full automation of its operations and revenue collection systems in 2025 following Federal Executive Council approval. He noted that the MOKOSA digital platform is designed to eliminate leakages and guarantee complete remittance of government revenues.
Mobereola also disclosed that the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund was relaunched in January and has already attracted about 60 applications from indigenous shipping firms. Under the revised framework, financial institutions now play a central role in risk assessment and repayment guarantees, a move he said would improve discipline and sustainability in fund disbursement.
He added that support for local shipowners, particularly in access to vessels and critical inputs, would be strengthened under the new arrangement. The Director-General further pointed to Nigeria’s return to the council of the International Maritime Organization after a 14-year absence as a strategic gain for the country’s global maritime standing.
Despite these assurances, some lawmakers questioned the timing of the 2026 budget presentation, citing the absence of a comprehensive review of NIMASA’s 2025 performance as a gap in the evaluation process.
The session closed with a clear signal from the National Assembly: funding for maritime agencies going forward will be strictly tied to transparency, accountability and demonstrable impact.
