The Sea Empowerment and Research Centre (SEREC) has released a definitive research white paper urging greater financial transparency and accountability across Nigeria’s maritime public institutions, arguing that public money must leave a clear public accountability trail.
Titled Show Us the Books: Financial Transparency, Public Enterprise Accountability and the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria’s Maritime Ecosystem, the 22 August 2026 document was produced by SEREC’s Research & Policy Division. It was issued as a birthday anniversary contribution by Fwdr Eugene Nweke
The white paper stresses that Nigeria’s ports and maritime agencies—including the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Port Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA), National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Nigeria Customs Service—handle public assets, collect public revenues and influence the cost of trade.
While these bodies keep internal accounts, SEREC says the public, investors, researchers, media and Parliament often cannot easily follow the full chain from revenue to expenditure, borrowing to debt service, procurement to assets, and spending to economic outcomes.
“The central question is not whether these institutions keep accounts. They do,” the paper states. “The deeper question is: Can the Nigerian public… readily trace the complete financial journey…?”
SEREC draws a parallel with recent public debate over Federal Capital Territory debt growth. The lesson, it says, is that revenue, borrowing and expenditure cannot be properly evaluated without access to the books. The same principle must apply to maritime public enterprises.
The centre proposes the Show Us the Books Doctrine: public money must leave a public accountability trail. This is framed as a governance and economic proposition rather than an accusation against any agency. Transparency, SEREC argues, supports the Presidential Ease of Doing Business agenda by reducing uncertainty, strengthening investor confidence and enabling businesses to understand the true cost of operating in Nigeria’s maritime ecosystem.
Other key recommendations include the creation of a Maritime Public-Enterprise Financial Transparency Framework (MPFTF) covering eight pillars: revenue, expenditure, borrowing, projects, procurement, assets, audit and performance transparency. SEREC also calls for a Maritime Financial Disclosure Calendar with monthly, quarterly and annual reporting; a Maritime Public Finance Observatory; a National Port Financial Performance Index; and an annual “One Port, One Accountability Statement” for each major port linking money to performance indicators such as cargo throughput, dwell time and economic output.
NPERA, as the emerging economic regulator under the Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency Act 2026, is urged to treat financial and economic transparency as a core part of port regulation and to evolve into a “port economic intelligence institution.” Other proposals include a unified Maritime Revenue Register, public-facing asset registers, structured disclosure of concession terms, and an annual Maritime Public Enterprise Accountability Day.
SEREC emphasises that the doctrine does not demand indiscriminate disclosure. Legitimate commercial secrets, national-security information, personal data and sensitive operational details may remain protected, provided confidentiality is specific, lawful, proportionate, justified and reviewable.
The white paper notes that Nigeria already has legal foundations—the Fiscal Responsibility Act, Public Procurement Act, Freedom of Information Act, and constitutional roles of the Auditor-General and Accountant-General—but implementation, consistency, accessibility, timeliness and integration remain weak. It advocates a shift from fragmented agency-by-agency accounting to maritime value-chain accounting that captures the total cost of moving cargo through the system.
Benefits cited include stronger public enlightenment, more responsible journalism, better evidence-based research, greater institutional prudence, improved parliamentary oversight and higher investor confidence. Transparency, the paper argues, can also protect competent management by providing verifiable records against unfounded allegations.
SEREC’s core formula is: Public Money + Public Power + Public Assets = Public Accountability; and Transparency + Prudence + Performance = Public Trust. It concludes by calling for a cultural shift “from ‘Trust Us’ to ‘Verify Us’” and from secrecy to integrated financial intelligence.
SEREC insists its position is systemic, not an allegation of wrongdoing against any particular agency. “Anything short of a transparent, traceable and verifiable financial accountability chain does not adequately support the culture of prudence and transparency required for sustainable governance of Nigeria’s maritime ecosystem.”
SEREC’s final message: Show us the books. Let the figures speak. Let performance be verified. Let public money produce public value.
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