Ports decongestion: Customs automated cargo clearance for efficiency, not revenue
By Uzor Odigbo
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has launched a fully automated overtime cargo clearance system—ushering in a new era of efficiency in trade facilitation.
Speaking at a sensitization exercise for stakeholders at Apapa Command, Lagos, Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, emphasized that the automation drive is not aimed at raking in revenue but at ensuring faster clearance of goods, freeing up terminal space, and supporting economic growth.
“Revenue is not the aim,” Adeniyi declared. “Our goal is to facilitate trade, inject transparency, reduce corruption, and ensure efficiency in cargo clearance.”
He more than half of the complaints reaching his desk daily relate to the management of overtime cargoes. The automation system, he explained, directly addresses these challenges by streamlining clearance processes and eliminating delays that frustrate consignees and stifle business activities.
To further strengthen the system, the NCS has set up specialized desks at its headquarters and across commands to prioritize critical project cargoes, government imports, and consignments for the organized private sector. “We don’t want vital imports—such as those related to infrastructure, public health, and education—to stay one day longer in our ports,” he added.
The automated platform is expected to deliver multiple benefits, including:
*Simplified and transparent clearance processes.
*Electronic and automated records of disposal
*Reduced human interference to limit corruption risks
*Better data integrity for import/export transactions
*Efficient management of terminal space
Assistant Comptroller General (Headquarters), Isah Umar, explained that the system would also prevent unauthorized disposal of cargoes that have not exhausted their statutory dwelling period, ensuring compliance and integrity across all ports.•
Stakeholders at the sensitization exercise welcomed the initiative. General Manager of PTML, Babatunde Keshiro, urged Customs to ensure the system discourages importers from deliberately abandoning cargoes to evade duties and charges. Similarly, Vice President of ANLCA, Prince Segun Oduntan, hailed the automation as a lasting solution to terminal congestion, while warning against criminals attempting to exploit loopholes.
The CGC assured that more sensitization sessions will be held with terminal operators, shipping companies, and customs agents nationwide, reinforcing Customs’ commitment to efficiency and accountability.
“We are more interested in exiting these cargoes from our ports, rather than managing them as overtime.”
