Nigerian exporters have expressed their disappointment with the Nigerian Ports Authority’s temporary suspension of export at the Lagos Ports Complex and the Tin Can Island Port for a period of two weeks.
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Bala-Usman, in a radio programme on Monday said the authority had a backlog of 600 trucks on truck access roads hence the decision to move in that direction.
Bala-Usman explained that suspension did not affect export of refrigerated cargo and trucks whose operators had secured call up tickets as of Friday, March 19, 2021.
She said, “We have a backlog of over 600 trucks that approached the ports, coming out of the truck parks and are currently in that location within the port corridors and Lilypond.
“So we are suspending all export cargoes. We have noted the challenges we have with export cargoes which resulted in this congestion.
“We found that a lot of export cargoes start approaching without documentation and this has been challenging for us in terms of readiness of the terminal operators to receive them. They also have several Customs certificates and Central Bank documents they need to complete.”
Responding to the move, the Chairman of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture, Export Group, Kola Awe, said exporters were not happy with how the NPA abruptly stopped export cargo movement.
Awe explained that exporters were reeling in losses following the announcement.
-Punch