Following the launch of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund, CVFF Application Portal by the Honourable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr. Adegboyega Oyetola in January this year, many stakeholders are still lost on how to get the link to the portal ass to make maximum use of it as demanded.

While many believed that the launch was part of the game plan by the Minister and the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola to buy time as the CVFF disbursement was not going to happen, others believed that we have never gotten closer to action in the history of disbursement of the fund than we have had under this regime.

Speaking in an interview with our source in Lagos last week, a former Acting National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, Dr. Kayode Farinto pointed out that until the funds were disbursed, he was not going to bet his money on the sincerity of this government to disburse the fund.

He said, “I have heard that so many times. Do you even know the portal through which stakeholders can apply for the fund? It should not be hidden. It is because we are bashing them that’s why they quickly unveiled the portal.

The Minister told us ten months ago that he was going to disburse the fund. Did he disburse it?

“?I hate window dressing, the portal should be made known to Nigerians so that anybody can apply. If you are qualified, you are qualified. If you are not qualified, it takes you out. Are we running a secret society here? I have been searching in the last 24 hours to see the portal, to see what it looks like but I couldn’t see it. It should be in public domain.”

On his part, the President of the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners, NAMM, Capt. Tajudeen Alao argued that there was never a time Nigeria came closer to the launch of application portal in the CVFF journey even as he expressed strong belief on the ability of the government to live up to its promise.

Speaking on the disclosure of the CVFF Application Portal Address, Alao maintained that the address was promptly projected on the screen on the day the portal was launched for everyone to see even as he wondered that even the people who sat with him at the venue of the launch could capture the portal address as some of them later recourse to him for assistance.

His words, “As at Saturday, somebody was asking me what was the portal. It was displayed on the projector that day. People were invited, people were there, if you were there for a purpose, you capture what happened there. At the launch, the people, the bank spoke, the consultants driving the project spoke.

“ And I said to him, you went with your IT personnel, your personal assistant, even your MD was there, yet all of you couldn’t capture the portal address?”

Although he was not able to recall the portal address, the NAMM President, however, absolved the management of NIMASA and the Ministry of any blame in this regard saying, “It is you, the applicant that should have been prepared since two years ago to get your documents ready so that the moment the portal is open, you go all out.

“I don’t see why on that day, people will now come out and start asking, when it was displayed on the screen. Maybe if somebody has bought a ship, I could be a consultant, a supply crew but if you are not ready, how?”

Meanwhile, findings revealed that an applicant can access the CVFF Application Portal using https://cvff.nimasa.gov.ng as the link. Launched in January 2026, this digital platform enables eligible Nigerian shipowners to register, submit documents, and apply for financing up to $25 million to acquire vessels, replacing the previous manual, paper-based process