Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Senator Dalhatu Tafida was, during the opening ceremony, elected the first Vice President of the Assembly.
“This is a thing of pride for Nigeria. We are very proud of this election and it goes to show the level of respectability of Nigeria in the international maritime community,” Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar who is the leader of Nigeria’s delegation to the Assembly told SHIP & PORTS DAILY in London.
Umar also confirmed that Nigeria will not be seeking election into the IMO Council.
The IMO Assembly, which meets once every two years in regular session, will run till Wednesday next week.
The Assembly is IMO’s highest governing body. It is responsible for approving the work programme, voting the budget and determining the financial arrangements of the Organization. It also elects the Organization’s 40-Member Council. Nigeria’s delegation has several other top maritime industry dignitaries including the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Engr. Nebolisa Emordi; Rector, Maritime Academy of Nigeria, MAN Oron, Mr. Joshua Okpo; Executive Director Finance and Administration of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr. Haruna Baba Jauro and Secretary-General, Abuja Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Port State Control, Mrs. Mfon Usoro, in attendance.
SHIPS & PORTS DAILY reported exclusively in its edition of Thursday November 21, 2013 that Nigeria would not be contesting the IMO Council election because the Federal Government is not convinced about the benefits the country has derived from previous campaigns for the IMO Council seat and presence on the Council.
The country is however participating fully in the 28th General Assembly.
IMO is the United Nations’ specialized agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships.
The Organization consists of an Assembly, a Council and five main Committees: the Maritime Safety Committee; the Marine Environment Protection Committee; the Legal Committee; the Technical Co-operation Committee and the Facilitation Committee. A number of Sub-Committees are also set up to support the work of the main technical committees.
The Council is elected by the Assembly for two-year terms beginning after each regular session of the Assembly. The Council is the executive organ of IMO and is responsible, under the Assembly, for supervising the work of the Organization. Between sessions of the Assembly, the Council performs all the functions of the Assembly, except the function of making recommendations to Governments on maritime safety and pollution prevention which is reserved for the Assembly.
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