Importers will now need less than seven days to clear their goods in any of the nation’s ports from 2026, as the federal government intensifies effort to ensure an early take-off of the National Single Window policy at the nation’s ports.

Vice President Kashim Shettima who dropped the hint on Thursday at the presidential Villa, Abuja, said the new policy will take off in the 1st quarter of 2026.

He disclosed that the policy which is aimed at creating a single platform to harmonise documentation, minimise human contact, and bring full transparency to the cargo clearance process, would be a game-changer at the ports.

Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to The President on Media & Communications, Office of The Vice President, in a statement, said Shettima, while speaking at the second meeting of the Ports and Customs Efficiency Committee at the Presidential Villa, noted that the target is to reduce average cargo clearance time from the current 21 days to less than seven days by the end of 2026.

Shettima also revealed that the policy will reposition Nigerian ports among the top three most potent trade corridors in Africa.

He stated: “By the end of 2026, we aim to reduce average cargo clearance time in Nigeria to under seven days and to position our ports among the top three most efficient trade gateways on the continent.

“The forthcoming implementation of the National Single Window in the first quarter of next year will be a game changer, a single platform that harmonises documentation, minimises human contact, and brings full transparency to the cargo clearance process.”

Shettima also directed the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and other relevant agencies to come up with a roadmap on how to make Nigeria’s weights and measures framework effective.

The weights and measures framework conducts regular surveillance and inspections across Nigeria to ensure that weighing and measuring equipment used in trade is accurate and that consumers receive the correct value for their money in line with standard global practice.

The main objective is to ensure consumer protection, which is achieved by preventing fraud and misrepresentation in commercial transactions involving weights and measures.

Demanding a roadmap for an effective weights and measures framework, the Vice President said the target is to improve port operations, make cargo clearance faster and more efficient by reducing average cargo clearance time from 21 days to less than seven days by the end of 2026, as well as position Nigerian ports among the top three most potent trade corridors in Africa.

Shettima expressed dismay over cargo dwell time at Nigeria’s major ports, which he said “currently averages between 18 to 21 days,” compared to Ghana and Cotonou, Benin Republic, where it takes five to seven days and just four days, respectively.

“The cost of clearing goods in Nigeria is estimated to be 30 percent higher than in many of our regional peers. Our ports record cargo dwell times 475 percent above the global average benchmark.

“These inefficiencies are not just statistics; they are symptoms of an economic ailment that costs us investments, drives up consumer prices, and weakens our export competitiveness. We simply cannot afford to continue down this path,” he noted.

He, however, expressed optimism that the Executive Order on Joint Physical Inspection, which is currently before President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, “stands as one of the boldest and most decisive steps toward reversing these trends.

“It marks the dawn of a new era, an era where agencies work together, where systems speak a common language, and where traders and investors can depend on predictability, transparency, and speed,” he added.

He also called for synergy among the NPA, Nigerian Customs Service, NAFDAC, SON, NIS and other relevant agencies, saying the era of working in silo was over.

“But no reform succeeds without ownership. Every agency represented here, the Nigerian Ports Authority, the Customs Service, NAFDAC, NDLEA, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Immigration, the Quarantine Service, and all our partners, must see ourselves not as isolated operators, but as links in a single, integrated value chain.

“The era of siloed operations must end. Inter-agency rivalry must give way to inter-agency synergy. We are only as efficient as our collaboration allows, and our success will depend not only on what we do individually, but on what we achieve together.”

Earlier, Zahra Audu, the Director General of PEBEC, drew attention to the impact of inefficient port operations on the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria, underscoring the imperative for a collective resolve among stakeholders to improve port operations, making cargo clearance faster and more efficient.

She decried the losses incurred as a result of the inefficiency at the nation’s ports while acknowledging the efforts of the Customs and Ports Efficiency Committee, describing the committee as a platform that represents not only interagency collaboration but also a shared commitment to making Nigeria’s ports globally competitive, transparent, and efficient.

For his part, Abubakar Dantsoho, Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority, emphasised the importance of synergy in revamping the nation’s ports, noting that “until there is collaboration and partnership, you cannot achieve efficiency at the ports.”

Highlighting steps taken by the ports authority to address bottlenecks faced by importers and exporters at the nation’s ports, the MD said the Customs and Ports Efficiency Committee established by the NPA is recording huge successes through the joint inspection and boarding by relevant agencies operating in the area.

He identified adoption of technology, improvement in infrastructure, human capacity building, and equipment and tools, as areas that can be improved to enhance port efficiency and ensure that Nigeria remains competitive and relevant in the sub-region, continent and beyond. (BusinessDay)