Nigeria’s non-oil exporters have accused the Nigerian Ports Authority of stalling exports by replacing a seamless automated system with manual approvals, leaving hundreds of loaded trucks stranded daily and costing exporters billions of naira.
The Cocoa Processors Association of Nigeria says exporters have lost between N10 billion and N12 billion in extra costs, delays, defaults and additional charges since the new procedure took effect in February 2026.
Felix Oladunjoye, chairman of the association, said the change has turned a 24-hour export process into a five-to-six-day wait, forcing exporters to miss shipping schedules, lose contracts and pay penalties.
Speaking at a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday, Oladunjoye called to alert the federal government on the congestion at the Lagos port corridor and to demand urgent intervention.
Automation reversed
The federal government introduced an electronic platform in 2020 to fast-track exports, create a one-stop point for exporters and make Nigerian exporters competitive, Oladunjoye said. About five private companies were appointed to facilitate automation.
Between 2020 and January 2026, an exporter could upload information, make payment on the platform and get an export load into the terminal within 24 hours, he said.
That changed in February 2026, when the NPA made itself the final approver. After uploading export information and paying, terminal operators must now wait for NPA approval before a gate pass can be issued to admit the export, he noted.
“What NPA was doing is to bring back the bottlenecks that were in the process before, creating manual approval,” Oladunjoye said.
He said the NPA introduced the system without consulting export stakeholders and without explanation. The automation that was designed to remove multiple agents, manual processing and corruption is now being defeated by the same manual process it was meant to replace, he said.
The NPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
500 trucks, 15 admitted
Oladunjoye said an average of 500 export-loaded trucks are parked daily around the Lagos ports, in Tin Can and Apapa. About 90 percent of export terminals are based in Tin Can Island, between the PTML terminal, the second gate and Tin Can Island.
The NPA now limits the number of export-loaded trucks it admits per day, he said. While 300 to 500 trucks may be loaded for the port, only about 15 are given tickets to gate in each day. The rest remain in queue, creating congestion.
“When 300 trucks or 500 are loaded to the port, and only 15 are being given tickets to gate in, the rest will be in the queue, and that’s where the congestion comes from,” Oladunjoye said.
The delay is pushing up transaction costs. Trucks forced to wait look for car parks around the port corridor and pay heavily. They burn more diesel moving around in search of parking, while exporters face demurrage, renomination charges from shipping lines and higher financing costs as trade cycles lengthen.
“You have to mobilise; you have to fast-track to give you priority to gate in,” Oladunjoye said. “They’ve created those artificial problems to extort money from exporters.”
He said exporters who miss their shipping window are subject to penalties, while the targeted buyer may cancel the contract. The result is uncompetitive Nigerian exports and reduced foreign exchange earnings for the government.
Non-oil exports at risk
Oladunjoye said the disruption threatens Nigeria’s diversification drive. Non-oil exports are key to earning foreign exchange and reducing dependence on oil.
He cited documented non-oil exports of $2.2 billion in 2020, rising 55.8 percent to $3.45 billion in 2021 and 39.9 percent to $4.8 billion in 2022. Exports fell 6.3 percent to $4.5 billion in 2023 amid lower global prices and war, before recovering to $5.45 billion in 2024.
Cocoa alone contributes more than 30 percent of non-oil exports, he said, making the port delays particularly damaging for cocoa processors and other non-oil exporters.
The association has written to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy and the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment in Abuja to complain and seek intervention. Oladunjoye said the press conference was a follow-up to expedite action.
“We need to call the Nigerian Ports Authority management,” he said. “Things are not working. You can go to the port yourself and confirm.”
He said the port reform was meant to drive export facilitation, reduce costs and remove corruption from the system. The current procedure, he argued, does the opposite.
“We are moving forward in line with the federal government’s Renewed Hope agenda, but non-oil exports are very key to the diversification of Nigeria’s oil economy,” Oladunjoye said. “The contract is there, the produce is there, but the NPA has created a serious problem.”
Nigeria’s cocoa maincrop season has started, and huge volumes will be exported from now through April.
Josephine Okojie-Okeiyi is a journalist with over five years’ reporting experience. She writes on industry, agriculture, commodities, climate change, and environmental issues. She is fellow of Thomson Reuters Foundation and Bloomberg Media Initiative for Africa.
