Tinubu signs law to establish Nigeria Port Economic Regulatory Agency

President Bola Tinubu has assented to a bill establishing the Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA), bringing to a close more than a decade of attempts to give port regulation a statutory footing.

Pius Akutah, executive secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), disclosed the development on Thursday in a Facebook post. “Nigerian Port Economic Regulatory Agency Act, 2026. Thank you Mr President for making it a reality,” he said.

Since the Nigerian Senate passed the bill on April 28, anticipation had peaked for final approval.

The legislation is intended to replace the regulatory arrangement under which the Nigerian Shippers’ Council has overseen the economic side of Nigeria’s ports since 2014, when the Federal Government designated the council as the interim port economic regulator following the port concessions of 2006.

The council’s role has rested largely on presidential directives and regulations rather than a dedicated Act of Parliament. The new law is intended to give the port economic regulator statutory powers over areas including tariffs, rates and charges, competition, service standards and commercial disputes.

The legislation has taken a long route to enactment. Successive National Assemblies had considered bills to establish a dedicated port economic regulator, but attempts in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth assemblies did not produce a law. 

The current legislative effort, initially titled the Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill 2023, was introduced in the House of Representatives in February 2024 and passed second reading the following month. The bill sought to repeal the Nigerian Shippers’ Council Act and replace it with a new statutory framework.

Its passage was not straightforward.

The bill attracted objections from other maritime agencies over the potential duplication of regulatory powers. 

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), for instance, raised concerns about provisions covering shipping regulation, licences, fees and charges, while the Nigerian Ports Authority questioned potential overlaps with its role as landlord and concessioning authority.

Read also: Eliminating duplication in Nigerian Shipping, Port Economic Regulatory bill

After eventually passing through the National Assembly, the legislation reached the Presidency but did not receive immediate assent. The bill was returned to lawmakers for amendments, including issues concerning its mandate and conflicts with the Nigerian Tax Administration Act 2025. The House subsequently revised the legislation, with the Senate also reconsidering its earlier passage before the amended version cleared the legislature in 2026.

By March, Akutah said the revised bill was awaiting Senate concurrence before being retransmitted to Tinubu. In April, the Senate considered the revised legislation as part of the process that eventually put it back before the President. 

The significance of Thursday’s assent therefore settles, at least in legislation, the question of who should regulate the commercial relationship between port operators and users, and on what legal authority.

For importers, exporters, shipping lines, terminal operators and other port users, the practical impact will depend on how the new regime is implemented. The key questions now include when the Act takes effect, how its powers will be transferred and what happens to the existing NSC’s current structure.

The earlier version of the legislation provided for the repeal of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council Act, but the precise institutional and transitional arrangements under the final 2026 Act will determine whether the council is effectively converted into the new regulator or whether a separate institutional transition takes place.