NIWA restates determination to be self-funding by 2023

Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has said that it will opt out of the National budget in 2023 as the National Assembly joint panel on Marine Transport, Ports, Harbours/ Inland Waterways defer budget defence over inconsistency in the agency’s budget report.

Speaking in Abuja when he appeared before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Marine Transport, Ports, Harbours/ Inland Waterways while presenting the 2022 budget proposals, the Managing Director of NIWA, Dr George Moghalu said that the agency is determined to become fully self-funding by 2023 upon the passage of NIWA Bill.

According to him, “the Authority is determined more than ever become fully self-funding by 2023 predicated upon the passage of the NIWA bill, in so doing upscaling development of Inland Water Transportation in Nigeria.”

The Managing Director who told the lawmakers that the autonomy by the NIWA will not take the power of oversight from the lawmakers said that the aim of the autonomy is not to burden the national budget. In the breakdown presented by NIWA Managing Director for 2022 budget proposal, N12.8 billion is subvention for Capital budget from the federal government, the total IGR budget proposal is N21.2 billion made up of a recurrent estimate of N10.8 billion.

Trouble, however, started for the Managing Director of NIWA as many Senators and House of Representatives members complained about the clumsiness of the report presented for consideration. Senator Smart Adeyemi specifically told the NIWA Managing Director that the report is not presented in a way that could be easily understood.

Another Senator from Jigawa, Senator Danladi Sankara said that the agency failed to include receipt of remittance in their report, though Senator Jibrin Isah who is the Vice Chairman of Senate Committee on Finance, informed the Committee that NIWA submitted the remittance receipt to the government’s purse to Finance Committee.