Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa

By Luka Binniyat
ABUJA—There was no consensus, yesterday, between the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa; the National Security Adviser, General Sarki Muktar and former Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Mike Akhigbe (rtd),  over a bill for the establishment of a Maritime Security Agency.

The bill seeks to create an Act for the establishment of a Maritime Security Agency responsible for intelligence gathering and sharing among relevant security and maritime agencies.

Stakeholders on need  to strengthen sector

At a one-day public hearing chaired by the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Transport, Mr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, stakeholders agreed that there was need to strengthen the sector, but disagreed on other aspects of the initiative.

The document is an Executive Bill forwarded to the National Assembly for consideration and passage.
While Aondoakaa insisted that the bill is essential to protect the nation’s territorial integrity, Muktar, who aligned  with the Justice Minister, said  the Presidential Implementation Committee on Maritime Security, PICOMSS, set up by the Federal Executive Council, FEC, in September 2003, currently handles most of the areas the new bill proposes.

Aondoakaa,  who was represented by the Legal Draughtsman of the Ministry of Justice, Abdulsaheed Ibrahim, noted that the proposed agency was sequel to the recommendations of the audit report from International Maritime Organisation, IMO, in 2007 and US Coastal Guard of 2008 on “gathering actionable intelligence and the need to identify threats and responses on issues relating to maritime security.”

According to him:  “The Federal Government is not interested in taking over the functions of Nigerian Navy which was responsible for operational national security.”

He added  that the agency, when established, will be responsible for coordination of gathering and sharing of security and intelligence reports in the maritime sector of the nation’s economy.

NSA debunks allegation on Bill

Mr. Musa Gabriel, who represented the National Security Adviser and PICOMSS, in his presentation, said lack of co-ordination and non-integration of relevant national assets required for an optional integrated solution informed FEC’s decision to set up PICOMSS.

Gabriel debunked the allegation that PICOMSS will be a military institution.

He said, “PICOMSS has the requisite national shoreside infrastructure for the purpose of maritime surveillance and maritime domain awareness. PICOMSS has been appropriately shifted from the Ministry of Transport to the Office of NSA to assume its mandatory security role within the larger context of national security.”

He insisted that it would be good to legislate PICOMSS into MASECA to statutorily continue with the performance of the roles.

Akhigbe says Bill is unnecessary

But, Akhigbe said the committee should jettison the bill.
Those who shared his views also described as unnecessary the duplication of  the outfits meant to tackle security issues in the nation’s maritime environment.

According to him, there was no need for the establishment of the new body as the call for its establishment was not borne out of any patriotic desire.

He noted that the reason behind the proposed establishment was “for the control of resources.
“Why do we need a new agency? It should have been located in NIMASA. Why should the National Security Adviser want to have an agency under him?”

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Mr. Femi Olayisade, while revealing that the PICOMM should have wound up its operation since 2004, noted that the proposed bill is “in conflict with and a duplication of the NIMASA Act.”

The Navy also supported the non-passage of the bill. Rear-Admiral Sylvester Okpo, the Chief of Planning and Policy for the Nigerian Navy, argued that it is  the constitutional duty of the Navy to secure the nation’s  maritime territory.