{"id":126463,"date":"2026-04-06T16:28:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T15:28:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=126463"},"modified":"2026-04-06T16:28:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T15:28:42","slug":"fg-probes-alleged-marginalisation-of-local-barge-operators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/fg-probes-alleged-marginalisation-of-local-barge-operators\/","title":{"rendered":"FG probes alleged marginalisation of local barge operators"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">By Godswill Michael<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Federal Government has initiated a probe into allegations of marginalisation of indigenous barge operators in Nigeria\u2019s maritime sector, directing the Nigerian Shippers\u2019 Council to investigate claims of unfair practices at the nation\u2019s seaports.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The directive was issued by the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, during the 2026 First Quarter Citizens\/Stakeholders\u2019 Engagement, Sectoral Performance Review, and Ministerial Management Retreat of the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy held in Lagos.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to a statement on Monday signed by the Minister\u2019s Special Adviser, Bolaji Akinola, the government\u2019s intervention follows complaints by industry players over what they described as systemic efforts to sideline local operators.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr Adegboyega Oyetola, has directed the Nigerian Shippers\u2019 Council to investigate allegations of systemic efforts to undermine local barge operators at the nation\u2019s seaports,\u201d the statement said.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">At the engagement, representatives of barge operators alleged that \u201cthere is a coordinated and deliberate attempt by certain foreign interests to edge them out of business,\u201d warning that the situation could erode indigenous participation in the sector.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThey claimed that these actions, if left unchecked, could significantly weaken local capacity and disrupt the balance of competition within Nigeria\u2019s maritime logistics chain,\u201d the statement added.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The operators raised concerns over structural disadvantages affecting their operations, noting that \u201cpolicies, operational bottlenecks, and preferential treatment allegedly being accorded to some foreign-linked entities by certain terminal operators are creating an uneven playing field.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cAccording to them, these challenges are gradually eroding their market share and threatening the survival of indigenous businesses,\u201d the statement said.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Oyetola reaffirmed the Federal Government\u2019s commitment to protecting domestic investments and ensuring a level playing field across the maritime industry. He mandated the Council, in its capacity as port economic regulator, to conduct \u201ca thorough and impartial investigation into the claims.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Minister also issued a strong warning against unfair market practices, stressing that \u201cany form of anti-competitive behaviour or policy inconsistency that disadvantages Nigerian businesses would not be tolerated.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Barge operations play a critical role in Nigeria\u2019s port logistics ecosystem, particularly in decongesting major seaports such as those in Lagos and facilitating cargo movement through inland waterways. Indigenous operators have, however, long raised concerns over regulatory bottlenecks, infrastructure constraints, and competition from foreign-linked firms.<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Godswill Michael The Federal Government has initiated a probe into allegations of marginalisation of indigenous barge operators in Nigeria\u2019s maritime sector, directing the Nigerian Shippers\u2019 Council to investigate claims&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":126464,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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