The Nigeria Customs Service has issued a two-week grace period to importers and agents of 905 cargoes, currently domiciled at various ports in Lagos, to clear them or risk forfeiture to the Federal Government, The PUNCH reports.
The service, in a notice on Monday, explained that these overtime cargoes are domiciled at Apapa, Tincan Island, and the Ports & Terminal Multipurpose Limited commands of the NCS.
Overtime cargoes are consignments that have stayed beyond the estimated time at the ports. The service warned that, at the expiration of the two-week grace period, it would initiate the process for disposing of the overtime cargoes.
“In line with the NCS Act 2023, the underlisted overtime containers and vehicles domiciled at the underlisted commands, following a motion of exparte with suit number, FHC/L/MISC/823/2025, date July 31, 2025, are hereby published for the information of the public.
“Accordingly, importers/agents of the overtime goods are given a two-week grace period from the date of this publication to process and clear their goods or forfeit them to the Federal Government of Nigeria. Please note that, in accordance with the NCS Act 2023, the NCS will commence the process of disposal of all uncleared overtime goods immediately after the expiration of the grace period,” the notice read in part.
According to the notice, out of the 905 overtime cargoes, 40ft containers took the largest chunk with 438 pieces, while 20ft containers accounted for 120 pieces.
The notice also showed that about 60 used vehicles of different models and years made the list, while groupage containers were 60 pieces and scrap metal were 15 pieces.
This is coming barely a year and six months after the Comptroller-General of Customs, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, inaugurated a committee to dispose of overtime cargoes to fast-track the movement of imported goods and those for export.
Recall that on November 9, 2023, the spokesperson of the NSC, Abdullahi Maiwada, stated in a statement that the CGC had inaugurated the Committee on Disposal of Overtime Cargo at the organisation’s headquarters in Abuja.
This development arises in response to the new Customs Act’s provisions, which empower the NCS to dispose of containers that have exceeded their allotted time within the ports.
Adeniyi emphasised that alleviating port congestion stands as a paramount objective for the Nigeria Customs Service, as well as President Bola Tinubu, offering the promise of heightened efficiency and enhanced trade facilitation.
Meanwhile, the image maker of the service, Maiwada, noted that the worth of the containers and vehicles varies, stressing that the importers are encouraged to come forward and clear their goods.
“The items don’t have the same value? If they do not have the same value, they won’t have the same cost, and the duty won’t be the same. There is no benchmark for valuation.
“Even vehicles of the same model can’t be the same value. Even used vehicles of the same make and year can’t be the same value because of the way the vehicle was used,” he stated.
However, stakeholders blamed the high exchange rate, inflation, among others, as the cause of the high volume of overtime containers. The Head of Research at Sea Empowerment and Research Centre, Mr Eugene Nweke, said, “High exchange rate, high clearance cost, inadequate loan facility, poor purchasing power, these are the reasons people abandoned their imports at the ports.”
The Secretary Western Zone of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Mr Stanley Ezenga, said, “No importer will import goods and abandon his cargo. Because if the system is working and the agents clear their goods promptly, there won’t be all these containers that have gone into overtime.
“Remember, overtime starts from 28 days due time. These are the main reasons there are a lot of overtime cargoes lying in our terminals. System failure is the culprit; nobody will invest their money and abandon it at the port. That’s why we have so much overtime and containers lying around various ports.”
