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The Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) on Tuesday conducted an assessment visit to the National Single Window (NSW) office in Apapa, Lagos, to review progress, identify challenges, and outline next steps for the trade facilitation platform.
NRS Chairman, Zacch Adedeji, credited Bola Tinubu for delivering the long-delayed initiative and assured stakeholders that government would cushion the financial impact of early operational issues.
“This is a special period. We will engage terminal operators and relevant stakeholders to ensure demurrage charges are waived on affected containers,” he said.
Adedeji attributed the delays to complexities associated with migrating data from legacy systems, noting that only a fraction of transactions had been impacted. He commended the widespread adoption of the platform, describing stakeholder buy-in as a key success indicator.
He urged users not to be discouraged by initial hitches, stressing that the NSW has significantly streamlined processes by consolidating multiple documentation points into a single platform.
Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, described the visit as a performance review and reaffirmed the Service’s commitment to the project.
“National Single Window is here to stay. It will transform trade, boost competitiveness, and enhance facilitation,” he said.
Adeniyi acknowledged initial technical glitches but noted that several issues, including manifest uploads, had been resolved. He added that stakeholder training and system refinements were ongoing, with strong industry acceptance.
Drawing from the experience of the Customs B’Odogwu platform, he expressed confidence that the NSW would stabilise quickly, noting that similar concerns at its rollout were successfully addressed.
PEBEC Director-General, Zahrah Mustapha Audu, said the platform aligns with Nigeria’s ease-of-doing-business reforms and represents a major step forward for import and export processes.
While acknowledging inevitable software-related challenges, she maintained that the overall trajectory remains positive.
Audu expressed optimism that cargo dwell time could drop below the seven-day target, potentially reaching three to four days with sustained political will and inter-agency collaboration.
She reaffirmed PEBEC’s commitment to working with stakeholders to ensure policies translate into tangible benefits and commended the NSW team for progress recorded so far.
