By Joy Odor Reportcircle News
Nigeria’s chronic port delays are facing a decisive showdown as the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), in partnership with the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) and the Ports and Customs Efficiency Committee (PCEC), has launched a coordinated push to force cargo clearance down to a seven-day timeline.
The bold reform drive took centre stage at a three-day, high-level stakeholder engagement held at the Lagos Port Complex, Apapa, under the Business Environment Enhancement Programme Accelerator (BEEPA).
The session, themed “Achieving a 7-Day Cargo Dwell Time,” brought together regulators, terminal operators, shipping companies and private sector players in what officials described as a shift from talk to execution.
According to the NPA, the meeting was triggered by an intensive “shadowing” exercise in which government officials embedded themselves inside port operations, observing vessel berthing, cargo handling and clearance procedures in real time at both the Tin Can Island and Lagos Port complexes.
The findings, insiders say, exposed deep-rooted inefficiencies costing the economy billions daily.
Addressing stakeholders, Director-General of PEBEC, Zahrah Mustapha, delivered a blunt assessment of the stakes involved.
“Nigeria loses significantly every single day due to operational inefficiencies,” Mustapha said.
“These losses are not abstract figures. They are jobs that were never created, investments that walked away, and growth that was delayed. This reform is about resilience and unlocking Nigeria’s economic potential.”
She stressed that the new reform phase is designed to move beyond diagnosing problems to enforcing long-overdue solutions, with both public and private sector actors jointly held accountable for outcomes.
Mustapha added that the integration of regulators and industry operators under the reform framework is aimed at cutting cargo dwell time, improving vessel turnaround, and restoring confidence in Nigeria’s maritime value chain.
Earlier, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the NPA, Abubakar Dantsoho, reaffirmed the Authority’s full backing for PEBEC’s reform mandate, describing port efficiency as a national economic priority.
Dantsoho disclosed that the NPA is working with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to deploy a Port Community System (PCS), which will form the digital backbone of Nigeria’s National Single Window.
The system, he said, is expected to eliminate manual processes, synchronise port operations and choke off long-standing bureaucratic bottlenecks.
Industry observers note that the reform push builds on the NPA’s recent performance, having recorded a 100 per cent success rate on PEBEC reform deliverables and ranking fifth among federal agencies in 2025 with an 84.2 per cent compliance score.
In a statement issued by NPA spokesman, Ikechukwu Onyemekara, the Authority said the outcomes of the Lagos engagement would be implemented within the coming months, warning that the era of endless port delays must end.
“By closing the operational gaps identified during the port inspections, the NPA and PEBEC aim to create a more competitive maritime environment that attracts investment and enables seamless trade,” the statement said.
With Nigeria’s ports long criticised as among the slowest and most expensive in the region, the success or failure of the seven-day cargo dwell time target may well determine whether the country’s maritime sector finally delivers on its economic promise or remains a choke point for growth.
