The Federal Government has directed the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to take over the Inland Dry Port (IDP) functions currently handled by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC).
Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, announced the directive in a statement posted on his X page on Thursday.
The move follows the enactment of the Nigeria Ports Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA) Act, 2026, which provides for the transition of the NSC into NPERA as Nigeria’s substantive port economic regulator.
Oyetola said the restructuring is designed to establish a clearer separation between port regulation, development and operations.
Under the new arrangement, NPERA will focus on economic regulation, while the NPA will assume responsibility for promoting inland dry ports and integrating them into the country’s wider port infrastructure and operational network.
“I have directed the transfer of the Inland Dry Port (IDP) functions of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), as part of our efforts to establish a clear separation between port economic regulation, development and operations,” Oyetola said.
Ministerial Committee to Oversee NSC Transition
The minister also directed the immediate constitution of a Ministerial Committee to oversee the transition of the NSC into NPERA following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s assent to the NPERA Act, 2026.
The committee is expected to guide the institutional transition and ensure that the responsibilities previously performed by the NSC are appropriately distributed under the new regulatory framework.
Oyetola said NPERA will take on key economic regulatory responsibilities within the port sector, including the regulation of tariffs and charges, promotion of competition, licensing, service standards and commercial dispute resolution.
The Federal Government said the restructuring is intended to separate the functions of economic regulation from port development and operations.
The NPA, as the country’s port infrastructure and operations authority, will be responsible for integrating inland dry ports more closely with the national port network, while NPERA will concentrate on regulating the economic environment in which port operators and users function.
The changes are expected to reshape the institutional structure of Nigeria’s maritime sector as the government moves to implement the NPERA Act, 2026.
