The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, has directed the transfer of the Inland Dry Port functions of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
Oyetola also ordered 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 (NPERA).
The directives followed President Bola Tinubu’s assent to the NPERA Act, 2026, aimed at creating a clear separation between port economic regulation, development and operations.
According to a statement by the minister’s Special Adviser, Bolaji Akinola, the measures are intended to eliminate overlapping responsibilities and ensure that agencies under the ministry operate within clearly defined mandates.
The NPERA Act, signed by Tinubu in August, formally establishes a statutory economic regulator for Nigeria’s port sector, ending a two-decade wait for a dedicated regulatory agency.
With the new law, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, which had served as the country’s interim port economic regulator since 2014, will transition into NPERA.