President Bola Tinubu on has signed the Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency Act, 2026, formalizing legal authority for the Nigerian Shippers’ Council to act as the country’s economic regulator for ports.
The assent, announced on the verified Facebook page of NSC Executive Secretary Dr. Pius Akutah, converts a body that has long operated on policy guidance and government gazettes into a statutory regulator with powers to set and oversee tariffs, rates and charges; license service providers; police competition; and impose sanctions on errant port operators.
“The Nigerian Port Economic Regulatory Agency Act, 2026” is now law, Dr. Akutah said in the post.
Maritime experts said the act resolves a longstanding regulatory gap left by the 2006 port concessions.
NewsQuest reports that the law empowers a regulator to oversee tariffs, competition and licensing and gives legal backing to resolve commercial disputes in the port sector.
Earlier drafts of the bill drew criticism over potential overlap with the Nigeria Ports Authority and the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency.
Clearing agents and other stakeholders had called for clearer delineation of functions to prevent jurisdictional conflicts.
Both chambers of the National Assembly approved the bill in late 2025, but President Tinubu returned it, citing conflicts with the Tax Administration Act, 2025.
Lawmakers reconciled those differences and passed a harmonized version in April 2026, paving the way for presidential assent.
Stakeholders have welcomed the move as a turning point for port governance, with some describing the empowered NSC as “a new sheriff in town.”
