President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed the Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA) Bill, 2026 into law.
The law will assume economic regulatory functions currently exercised by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), including tariff-setting, licensing and dispute resolution for port services.

According to the Executive Secretary of NSC, Dr Pius Akutah, the assent of the NPERA by the president now paves the way for the establishment of a dedicated economic regulator for ports.

Akutah was full of appreciation to the President for the assent.

He explained: “Nigerian Port Economic Regulatory Agency Act, 2026. Thank you Mr. President for making it a reality,”
It would be recalled that the efforts to get the bill passed have been on for over 12 years.
Although, details of the assent remain unclear, it is believed that the new law will now empower the NSC as the ports economic regulator.

The NPERA framework will fully back the NSC with a lot of regulatory powers to bite as against the legal issues it had suffered in the past few years in the hands of multinational shipping lines and terminal operators.

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