By Ambrose Obioma Okehi (News Emperor)

As a man of his word, and a man who stood by what he said concerning the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), the Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo has called for a concerted effort by key stakeholders to make the quick disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) a reality.

The Minister, according to a statement signed by the Ministry’s Director (Press and Public Relations), Henshaw Ogubike,,made the call in Abuja at a meeting with Heads of the Primary Lending Institutions(PLIs).
Present at the meeting were the Managing Director/CEOs of Polaris Bank, UBA, Union Bank, Zenith Bank, Jaiz Bank, the Director General NIMASA, the Managing Director Shipping NNPC and other stakeholders. The Minister noted that President Buhari had approved the immediate disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) through five primary lending institutions, namely Polaris, Zenith, Union, Jaiz and UBA banks.
According to him,
“The President also approved that the 2% charge that makes up the Cabotage Fund should continue to accrue to the CBN Treasury Single Account (TSA) and each time the account hits $50million, the Minister of Transportation should, on the recommendation of NIMASA, direct the CBN to release the amount to any of the five banks for disbursement”.
Sambo noted that having waited for this long to get presidential approval for the disbursement of the fund , key stakeholders must expedite action on the necessary details to facilitate the quick disbursement of the funds. “We have received the approval of the President to disburse the funds. It is now left for the key players to actualize the approval by the President”, he said.
He said the maritime sector would be a major income earner for the country if properly managed, noting that it was fulfilling for him to lead the historic process of disbursing the Cabotage Fund. Section 44 part VIII of the Cabotage Act 2003 provides for the establishment of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) and a 2 percent deduction on cabotage-protected trade earnings goes into the savings for the development of indigenous tonnage (ships) in Nigeria. The Bankers and other critical stakeholders had hours of closed-door deliberation after the minister’s remark, to chart out a clear course for the final disbursements in the coming days.