Deji Elumoye in Abuja

The federal government has intensified effort to actualise implementation of the National Single Window at the nation’s ports by 2026.

Vice President Kashim Shettima said the policy targeted at creating a single platform to harmonise documentation, minimise human contact, and bring full transparency to the cargo clearance process would be a game changer at the ports

Shettima spoke on Thursday during the second meeting of the Ports and Customs Efficiency Committee at State House, Abuja.

He stated that the target was to reduce average cargo clearance time from 21 days to less than seven days by the end of 2026, and to position Nigerian ports among the top three most potent trade corridors in Africa.

The vice president stated, “By the end of 2026, we aim to reduce average cargo clearance time in Nigeria to under seven days and to position our ports among the top three most efficient trade gateways on the continent.

“The forthcoming implementation of the National Single Window in the first quarter of next year will be a game changer, a single platform that harmonises documentation, minimises human contact, and brings full transparency to the cargo clearance process.”

He directed the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and other relevant agencies to come up with a roadmap on how to make Nigeria’s weights and measures framework effective.

The weights and measures framework conducts regular surveillance and inspections across Nigeria to ensure that weighing and measuring equipment used in trade is accurate and that consumers receive the correct value for their money in line with standard global practice.

The main objective is to ensure consumer protection, which is achieved by preventing fraud and misrepresentation in commercial transactions involving weights and measures.

Demanding a roadmap for an effective weights and measures framework, Shettima said the target was to improve port operations and make cargo clearance faster and more efficient by reducing average cargo clearance time.

The vice president expressed dismay over cargo dwell time at Nigeria’s major ports, which he said “currently averages between 18 to 21 days”, compared to Ghana and Cotonou, Benin Republic, where it took five to seven days and just four days, respectively.

He stated, “The cost of clearing goods in Nigeria is estimated to be 30 per cent higher than in many of our regional peers. Our ports record cargo dwell times 475 per cent above the global average benchmark.

“These inefficiencies are not just statistics; they are symptoms of an economic ailment that costs us investments, drives up consumer prices, and weakens our export competitiveness. We simply cannot afford to continue down this path.”

Shettima, however, expressed optimism that Executive Order on Joint Physical Inspection, currently before President Bola Tinubu, “Stands as one of the boldest and most decisive steps toward reversing these trends.

“It marks the dawn of a new era, an era where agencies work together, where systems speak a common language, and where traders and investors can depend on predictability, transparency, and speed.”

Shettima demanded synergy among NPA, Nigerian Customs Service, NAFDAC, SON, NIS and other relevant agencies, saying the era of working in silos is over.

He said, “But no reform succeeds without ownership. Every agency represented here, the Nigerian Ports Authority, the Customs Service, NAFDAC, NDLEA, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Immigration, the Quarantine Service, and all our partners, must see ourselves not as isolated operators, but as links in a single, integrated value chain.

“The era of siloed operations must end. Inter-agency rivalry must give way to inter-agency synergy. We are only as efficient as our collaboration allows, and our success will depend not only on what we do individually, but on what we achieve together.”

Earlier, Director General of PEBEC, Princess Zahrah Audu, drew attention to the adverse effect of inefficient port operations on Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria, underscoring the need for a collective resolve among stakeholders to improve port operations, and make cargo clearance faster and more efficient.

Audu decried the losses incurred as a result of the inefficiency at the nation’s ports.

But she acknowledged the efforts of the Customs and Ports Efficiency Committee, describing the committee as a platform that represents not only interagency collaboration but also a shared commitment to making Nigeria’s ports globally competitive, transparent, and efficient.

Managing Director of NPA, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, emphasised the import of synergy in revamping the country’s ports, stating that “until there is collaboration and partnership you cannot achieve efficiency at the ports”.

Highlighting steps taken by the ports authority to address bottlenecks faced by importers and exporters at the ports, Dantsoho said the Customs and Ports Efficiency Committee established by NPA was recording huge successes through the joint inspection and boarding by relevant agencies operating in the area.

He identified adoption of technology, improvement in infrastructure, human capacity building, and equipment and tools, as areas that could be improved to enhance port efficiency and ensure that Nigeria remained competitive and relevant in the sub-region, continent, and beyond.

​