The Federal Government has directed the transfer of the Inland Dry Port functions currently handled by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council to the Nigerian Ports Authority.
The directive was issued by the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, as part of efforts to establish a clear separation between port economic regulation, development and operations.
Oyetola also directed the immediate constitution of a ministerial committee to oversee the transition of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council into the newly established Nigeria Ports Economic Regulatory Agency.
The minister’s directives followed President Bola Tinubu’s assent to the Nigeria Ports Economic Regulatory Agency Act, 2026.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Bolaji Akinola, the minister said the measures were aimed at establishing a clear institutional framework for the new port economic regulatory regime.
“The directives are part of measures to establish a clear institutional framework for the new port economic regulatory regime, eliminate overlapping responsibilities and ensure that agencies under the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy operate within clearly defined mandates,” the statement said.
The NPERA Act, signed into law by President Tinubu in August, formally establishes a substantive economic regulator for Nigeria’s port sector, ending a two-decade wait for a dedicated statutory port economic regulator.
With the enactment of the law, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, which has operated as the country’s interim port economic regulator since 2014, will transmute into NPERA.
The transfer of the Inland Dry Port functions to the NPA is expected to further streamline the responsibilities of agencies operating within the maritime sector and reduce institutional overlaps.
The development also marks a major transition in Nigeria’s port regulatory framework, with NPERA expected to assume responsibility for economic regulation while the NPA focuses on port development and operations.
