Harboursandport.com: Lagos --- National
Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA, has gone to the Supreme Court to
challenge the recent judgement by the Court of Appeal said to have
empower the Lagos State Government to legislate over international,
tidal, intra-coastal and/or inter-state waterways but for only
inter-state waterways.
Inter-state
waterways are such waterways that originate and end within a State.
NIWA
noted that contrary to insinuations in some sections of the media
that the Appeal Court had set aside the Federal High Court judgement
which empowered NIWA to regulate inland waterways including dredging
activities and has now empowered Lagos State to regulate same within
Lagos State, it only empower the sate government to legislate over
inter-state waterways.
The
statement read in part,“NIWA has already filed an appeal against
the judgement at the Supreme Court pending the formal transmission of
the judgement to NIWA and therefore Lagos State has nothing to be
excited about since the judgement has not changed the status quo
ante.
“In
this connection therefore, NIWA wishes to clarify that the Court of
Appeal ONLY granted Lagos State the
power to legislate on INTRA-STATE WATERWAYS (i.e. such waterways that
originate and end within Lagos State). However, such waterways do not
exist in Lagos State because all bodies of waterways in Lagos State
are either international, tidal, intra-coastal and/or inter-state
waterways.
“The Court
of Appeal retained the power to regulate international, intra-coastal
and inter-state waterways in NIWA being items provided under articles
36 and 64 of the exclusive legislative list of the 1999 constitution
(as amended). It should be noted that, NIWA was not the plaintiff in
this case at the lower Court as wrongly perceived, but a co-defendant
with Lagos State.
“It is
also imperative to notify the public that beside this Court of Appeal
judgement, there is also another subsisting Court of Appeal decision
in G. M Ent. Ltd vs C.R. Investment Ltd. reported in (2011) 14
N.W.L.R. part 1266, page 125, where the Court of Appeal held that
NIWA
has been conferred with far reaching power and right to control,
develop, manage and use all the lands, navigable waterways, inland
waterways, river ports etc throughout Nigeria.
“The
position therefore remains that it is only the Federal Government
that can regulate Inland Waterways, Shipping, Navigation and Dredging
activities within the Nigerian Inland Waterways and its Right- of -
Ways.
“NIWA
wishes to use this medium to call upon all Maritime and Dredging
Operators to disregard the latest claims by the Lagos State
Government, remain calm and continue to carry on their legitimate
businesses as regulated by NIWA.”
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