By Fatima Saka
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr. Adegboyega Oyetola, CON, on Tuesday presented a ₦10.5 billion budget proposal for the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy for the 2026 fiscal year, warning that the allocation was grossly inadequate to effectively deliver the ministry’s critical mandate.
Oyetola, who defended the budget before a joint sitting of the Senate Committee on Marine Transport and the House of Representatives Committees on Ports and Harbours; Maritime Safety, Education and Administration; Shipping Services; Inland Waterways; and Ocean and Fisheries, said the proposed ₦10,499,984,667.10 allocation would barely sustain basic operations.
According to him, the budget consists of ₦8.24 billion for capital expenditure, ₦453.86 million for overheads and ₦1.81 billion for personnel costs, noting that the funding level would not support meaningful reforms or sectoral growth in a ministry central to Nigeria’s trade, transport efficiency and food security.
The minister explained that the marine and blue economy oversees interconnected subsectors—ports, shipping, inland waterways, fisheries and aquaculture—which together handle over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s international trade by volume and play a key role in national economic competitiveness. He expressed concern that despite being largely self-funding, agencies such as the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Shippers’ Council were constrained by excessive deductions at source by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
Oyetola said the deductions had weakened the liquidity and operational flexibility of the agencies, leading to port congestion, higher logistics costs, delayed cargo movement, revenue losses and inflationary pressures. He stressed that the issue had gone beyond accounting and had become a national economic concern.
He also drew attention to what he described as a budgetary misalignment, noting that the 2026 budget of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) was wrongly placed under the Federal Ministry of Transportation instead of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, a situation he said undermined effective oversight and policy coherence within the maritime logistics value chain.
On inland waterways, the minister appealed for increased funding to address safety challenges and reduce accidents and loss of lives. He said water transport, which is significantly cheaper than road transport, remained underutilised in Nigeria, where over 80 per cent of freight movement is carried by roads, worsening infrastructure damage and increasing the cost of goods.
Addressing fisheries and aquaculture, Oyetola disclosed that Nigeria’s annual fish demand of over 3.6 million metric tonnes far exceeded domestic production of about 1.4 million metric tonnes, leading to imports valued at more than one billion dollars annually.
He added that post-harvest losses of up to 30 per cent further reduced supply, despite fish being a key source of affordable animal protein for households. He assured that efforts were ongoing to boost local production and reduce import dependence.
The minister further revealed that in 2025, the ministry’s revised capital budget of ₦3.53 billion received an actual cash release of just ₦202.47 million, representing about 1.7 per cent, while overhead releases stood at 35 per cent.
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He said the ministry was engaging with the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning to address funding gaps in line with the Federal Government’s drive to diversify the economy through the marine and blue economy.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, Senator Wasiu Eshilokun, assured that the National Assembly would give the proposals careful consideration, stressing the strategic importance of the marine and blue economy to national development and economic resilience.
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