Ibirogba made this statement against the backdrop of the statement made by Governor Babatunde Fashola that his administration would not comply with certain aspects of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) Act as set out by the FG in which he alleged undue control of the states’ apparatus.
The Commissioner, while speaking exclusively with SHIPS & PORTS DAILY, said, “that state government should go for permit before building jetties is not the law, they took us to court and what they cannot get at the law court, they want to smuggle in through the back door.
“Did the federal government understand the waterways more than the state, the thing is that the FG should be sincere. Should we take permit before moving people from Ikorodu to Mile 2?” He however said that the state government has transformed the Lagos waterways from a thing of phobia to a thing the people behold.
He said instead of competing with the state, the FG should make the Waterway a viable means of transportation.
It could be recalled that at the opening ceremony of the National Council of Transport, NCT, meeting in Lagos recently, Governor Babatunde Fashola, set the stage for an imminent clash.
with the FG on the issue when he said his administration would not comply with certain aspects of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) Act as set out by the FG in which he alleged undue control of the states’ apparatus.
Governor Fashola who had in his audience dignitaries including the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar and the Managing Director of NIWA, Hajia Mariam Ciroma, vowed that Lagos state government would not comply with the FG’s requirement under the NIWA Act asking states to obtain licenses before they could build jetties for public water transportation purposes.
According to him, such regulatory powers were “anti- people” and as such would not be observed by his government.
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