Lukman Abdulmalik
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has rolled out a new Automated Overtime Cargo Clearance and Disposal System aimed at tackling congestion, delays, and inefficiencies that have long hindered trade facilitation in the country.
At a sensitisation programme for stakeholders in Zones B and D, held at the Customs training college, Goron Duste, Kano, Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs and Zonal Coordinator, Zone B, Nsikan Umoh, represented by Comptroller Deborah Adeyemi, described the initiative as a milestone in the Service’s reform agenda.
She explained that the new platform would ensure transparency, reduce bottlenecks, and strengthen accountability in cargo clearance and disposal.
“For years, congestion, manual paperwork, abandoned cargo and lengthy clearance processes have weighed down trade facilitation and slowed economic activity,” she said.
“Today, with this automated system, Customs is showing that it can be both a facilitator of trade and a guarantor of integrity.”
In a paper presentation, Chief Superintendent of Customs at the Headquarters, Aliyu Abdulkadir, highlighted the direct benefits of the automated clearance system to shipping companies, terminal operators, and importers.
He explained that the platform was carefully designed to safeguard the legitimate interests of all parties involved in the management, processing, and clearance or disposal of overtime cargoes.
Abdulkadir noted that the system would enhance transparency, simplify procedures, reduce bottlenecks, and decrease unnecessary human interaction.
It would also streamline the disposal process through consistent and automated document flow, automate disposal records, and improve the overall efficiency of import and export data.
He further stressed that since overtime cargo involves import and export documents already registered on the NCS server, the new platform ensures that these documents are properly utilised or written off, including the generation of SGD even for disposal.
According to officials, the initiative is anchored on the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, which empowers the Service to take custody of overtime consignments after 120 days, with provisions for condemnation, auction, or other disposal methods.
The new platform, they said, gives full effect to those provisions with clarity, fairness, and speed.
Also speaking at the event, the Acting Commandant of the Customs Training College, Kano, Assistant Comptroller of Customs Suffiyan Yakubu, commended the reform as a turning point for the Service.
He said the platform would not only simplify clearance processes but also instill efficiency and data integrity in operations.
He urged stakeholders to familiarise themselves with the system, train their staff, and collaborate with Customs officers to ensure smooth implementation.
In his vote of thanks, the Controller of Kano/Jigawa Command, Dalhatu Abubakar, appreciated stakeholders for their participation and urged importers, exporters, agents, and terminal operators to spread awareness of the reform in order to curb overtime cargo challenges.
The Customs Service emphasised that the automation of overtime cargo clearance is more than just a technological shift; it is a transformation of culture, replacing delays and opacity with efficiency, transparency, and accountability.
