The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has said that the $350m accrued under the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund is intact and currently with the Central Bank of Nigeria under the Single Treasury Account.

The agency reacted to a recent media publication that alleged that funds had disappeared from the CVFF account.

In a statement on Tuesday by the Head of Public Relations of NIMASA, Osagie Edward, the agency said the misleading publication alleged that the fund had disappeared from the CVFF account.

Osagie added that the report of missing money was “both misleading and false.”

“For the records, the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund, securely held in the NIMASA account at the Central Bank of Nigeria remains intact. There has been no disappearance of funds, and no illegal transactions, as the article suggests.

“This misinformation is a figment of the author’s imagination, aimed at undermining NIMASA’s integrity, and misleads the public about the agency’s operations,” Osagie stated.

According to him, the management of NIMASA will ensure that the CVFF is utilised in line with its statutory purpose.

The Director-General of NIMASA, Dr Dayo Mobereola, assured stakeholders of the safety of funds under the CVFF.

“Let us be clear that the CVFF account at the Central Bank of Nigeria is safe, intact, and secure. We at NIMASA will continue to manage it with the utmost responsibility, and there are no irregularities or illegal activities surrounding the funds. I urge the public to disregard this false narrative and to continue trusting the Agency’s ability to uphold the integrity of Nigeria’s maritime sector,” Mobereola said.

He said that NIMASA is committed to transparency, accountability, and the advancement of Nigeria’s maritime sector.

The CVFF is a fund established under section 42 of the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act 2003 to promote the development of indigenous ship acquisition capacity and to provide credit facilities to local maritime operators.

In December 2022, the former DG of NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh announced that the CVFF funds available for disbursement were slightly over N16bn and $350m.

“What we have collected so far is in two folds made up of Naira and Dollar components. So far, the Funds available under the CVFF in naira component is around 16bn, while contributions in Dollar component hovers around $350m,” he said.