Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has inaugurated the Process Manual on Port Operations in Celebration of the 2020 International Anti-Corruption Day.
Osinbajo, while performing the inauguration on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said that the manual would ensure predictability, promote efficiency and accountability as well as reduce corruption in the port processes.
He said that the process would eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks faced by port users and reduce the opportunity for illegal demands in the ports.
“In 2017, Executive Order 1 was issued, essentially to address, promote transparency and efficiency in the business environment, designed to facilitate the ease of doing business.
“ The Process Manual on Port Operations is expected to be one of the key indicators for the effective implementation of Executive Order 1. The Process Manual is a step by step trajectory of processes at the ports.
“It outlines the actors and timelines for each process; it guides the user by highlighting all required documentation, payments, timelines and the responsible agencies.
“It equally guides the port operators by detailing the implementation chain and provides clarity on the time required for each process.
“The process manual is expected to ensure predictability, promote efficiency and accountability, reduce corruption in the port processes, eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks faced by port users and reduce the opportunity for illegal demands in the ports.’’
He said he had been informed that the manual would be reviewed and updated as issues and development emerged.
According to him, the fight against corruption is one of the priorities of the administration, adding that the government has invested time and resources to ensure that corruption is curbed since 2015.
He said that while substantial gains had been attained in the fight against corruption in Nigeria, its ranking under certain indices in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (CPI) had yet to show an improvement.
“In terms of utility and relevant, the CPI and its constituent data sources are determined largely by and produced for the consumption of the business community.
“It therefore has significant and reputational and economic implications for countries that are being assessed.
“A successful systemic intervention in the port sector will rapidly change the narrative, the perception and the ranking of Nigeria in the CPI.’’
Osinbajo said there was need for a proactive implementation process to be put in place with the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as the economic port regulator taking the lead.
Present at the inauguration were Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi and Lilian Ekeanyanwu, Head, Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-Corruption Reforms (TUGAR)
Representatives of Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigeria Immigration Service and Nigeria Customs Service also attended the event. (NAN)