The newly minted NPERA Act 2026 has armed the Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency with the structural teeth necessary to sanitise the nation’s maritime industry, enforce market fairness, and aggressively shield investor capital.
The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of NPERA, Dr. Pius Akutah, MON, FCILT, declared this aggressive regulatory dawn while hosting the executive team of the Maritime Correspondents Organisation of Nigeria (MARCON), led by its President, Mr. Ismail Aniemu, recently at the agency’s Lagos headquarters.
Applauding MARCON and the wider maritime press for their persistent advocacy, Dr. Akutah framed the successful legislative passage of the Act as a monumental, ecosystem-wide triumph.
“The accomplishment which you have attributed to us is just one of the things that we can all celebrate for the sector. Every hand was on deck to get us to where we are, and we need every hand on deck to move forward from here,” he stated.
Dismissing any notion that the enactment is a mere rebranding exercise, the NPERA boss emphasised that the law introduces sweeping operational upgrades designed to spark an era of trade efficiency and market integrity.
“If we look at the law, and I ask everybody to go and read the law very well, it has given us enormous powers to sanitise the port sector,” Akutah declared.
Under its upgraded mandate, NPERA will act as an unyielding referee—standardising tariffs, levelling the playing field for service providers, and instituting strict compliance frameworks. Strikingly, the 2026 Act introduces severe deterrent mechanisms:
regulatory infractions will no longer yield gentle slaps on the wrist, but will instead trigger crippling fines, criminal prosecution, and direct jail time for violators.
“The law is no respecter of persons. It will be applied in a very firm but effective manner to achieve the purpose for which it was made,” Akutah warned.
This regulatory tightening directly underpins the Federal Government’s bold macroeconomic blueprint to scale Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy by 2030, a feat Akutah notes is impossible without a world-class, investor-friendly maritime gateway.
To streamline operational bottlenecks, the agency is aggressively deploying Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) paths to swiftly squash industry friction before it bleeds into commercial bottom lines.
“It is better for us to find alternative ways of resolving these disputes so that it does not, in the long run, hamper our business and trade facilitation efforts,” he explained.
In a significant policy shift aimed at administrative transparency, Akutah revealed that NPERA has commenced formal talks with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to systematically hand off inland dry port development portfolios.
“As a regulator, we cannot be regulating the sector and also promoting the development of infrastructure within the sector,” Akutah clarified, noting that the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy has proactively engineered distinct institutional mandates to completely eliminate inter-agency friction and overlapping jurisdictions.
Speaking earlier, MARCON President Mr. Ismail Aniemu extended warm congratulations to Dr. Akutah on the milestone enactment of the NPERA Act, describing it as the hard-fought victory of years of relentless advocacy by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council and core industry stakeholders.
Aniemu noted that while the sweeping economic regulatory framework lays a flawless foundation for heightened efficiency, robust investment, and hyper-competitiveness within Nigerian ports, the true measure of its success will ultimately rest on its execution.
Pledging MARCON’s unwavering alliance, Aniemu affirmed the media body’s commitment to assisting NPERA in transforming Nigeria’s maritime gateways into the premier shipping hub for both West and Central Africa. He further lauded Dr. Akutah’s personal track record in driving equitable industry practices and pioneering maritime dispute resolution.
As NPERA pivots seamlessly from legislative blueprint to aggressive on-ground implementation, Aniemu emphasized that MARCON will balance its strategic partnership with its critical media watchdog responsibilities. Through objective reporting, the organisation will continue to spotlight vital reforms designed to supercharge port efficiency and establish Nigeria as the undisputed regional maritime superpower.
