Business

FG inaugurate collaborative task team on overtime cargoes at ports

Published

3 years ago

May 11, 2023

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The Federal Government has inaugurated a collaborative task team of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Ministry of Transportation, saddled with responsibility of addressing lingering issues of overtime cargoes at the national seaports and terminals while also proffering best-case situations on how the cargoes can be cleared.

While inaugurating members of the task team in Abuja, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation and Chairperson of the Committee, Dr Magdalene Ajani, said the inability to clear overtime cargoes at the ports and terminals had affected the number of cargoes that can be handled due to limitation of space.

Also, Ajani observed that this has resulted in a drastic drop in the volume of cargo coming into the country, adding that the reduction in cargoes has ultimately affected Internally Generated Revenue which is now lost to the neighbouring countries, while explaining that the clearing of overtime cargoes should not be confined to the Ikorodu Lighter Terminal, Lagos Port Complex, and TinCan Island Port Complex but all other ports and terminals within the country.

On the composition of the task team, Ajani said, ”It was a result of a series of meetings between the Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo and the Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service, and the Permanent Secretary, FMT, Dr Magdalene Ajani.”

Ajani, in a statement by the Director, Press and Public Relations of the ministry, Henshaw Ogubike, called on the task team to bring their professionalism to bear in the discharge of the onerous task.

Ajani, while reading the “Terms of Reference” said the team work includes but not limited to confirming the inventory of submission by the NPA on the actual number of overtime cargo in the ports and other locations; conducting a joint examination of all such cargo to determine contents suitable for use or consumption; providing a list separating goods for disposal by public auction and those to be deposed by condemnation/destruction.

“Others include gazetting all cargoes identified as overtime for disposal; determining the methodology for public auctioning at various ports/locations; determining the recoverability of part of the Terminal Operator’s revenue arising from long occupation of economic spaces and transfer charges; ensuring that the process is in conformity with applicable customs practices and any other task that may arise in the cause of the assignment.”

Responding on behalf of the team, Comptroller Adekunle Oloyede of the NCS, assured that the task team is a one-stop shop that will certainly unravel the overtime cargo challenge.

The task team is expected to submit its report within eight weeks.

Related Topics:Cargoes FG Ports Task Team

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Nigeria, UAE scrap tariffs on over 13,000 goods

Dr Oduwole said that the tariffs removal was part of a new trade pact aimed at expanding market access for Nigerian goods, businesses, and professionals, under the Nigeria–UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement signed in January 2026.

Published

2 hours ago

January 14, 2026

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•Dr Jumoke Oduwole

Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates have signed an agreement to eliminate tariffs on 13,000 manufactured products.

Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment disclosed this, saying that while the Federal Government has eliminated tariffs on 6,243 products imported from the UAE , they have removed tariffs on 7,315 products imported from Nigeria.

Under the agreement, Nigeria will immediately remove tariffs on 3,949 products, representing 63.3 per cent of the total, while phasing out tariffs on 2,294 products over five years. Nigeria excluded 123 products from tariff liberalisation.

On its part, the UAE will immediately eliminate tariffs on 2,805 products, representing 38.3 per cent of the total, remove tariffs on 1,468 products within three years, and on 3,042 products within five years.

The UAE excluded or prohibited 593 products.

Business

CBN: 60 newly recruits staff laments three years of waiting without engagement

The concerned staff appealed to the CBN Governor, President Bola Tinubu, and other stakeholders to look into their plights, as economic hardship has taken a toll on them after about three years of leaving their jobs.

Published

1 day ago

January 13, 2026

OCHEFA

22 Views

• CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso

A group of newly recruited staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have cried out over delayed posting and onboarding into various positions since August 28, 2023.

The Guardian reported that according to the employees, the Apex Bank issued the offer, which was followed by an acceptance copy and instructions to resign from their previous places of work, where applicable, as part of documentation.

“We all tendered resignation letters to our former employers at that time to enable us to proceed with the CBN process,” one of the affected employees, Emmanuel Linus Dabo, who spoke on behalf of others,, told newsmen on Monday.

According to him, the application process started in April 2023, where their resumé were submitted to the Headquarters of CBN, and after some time, they received emails from the Human Resources Department for interview and aptitude tests.

“We did a medical examination at the bank’s medical clinic, where a code was given to individual applicants before we could access the hospital.

After the interview and medical and aptitude tests, the successful applicants were contacted by the HR manager to come to CBN Headquarters in Abuja to pick up their offer letter. We filled the acceptance letter without delay,” he said.

He further stated that there was a series of e-mails from the Human Resources office requesting that they forward their credentials for the online documentation, including their acknowledged resignation letters from their previous employers…

Business

KPMG, NRS settle rifts over new tax laws

In its newsletter on January 9, KPMG said there are “errors, inconsistencies, gaps, omissions, and lacunae” in the new tax laws that require urgent reconsideration to ensure the achievement of their stated objectives.

Published

1 day ago

January 13, 2026

OCHEFA

25 Views

KPMG executives and Zaach Adedeji, chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), held a meeting on Monday following the disagreement over the new tax laws.

However, on January 10, the presidential fiscal policy and tax reforms committee pushed back against KPMG’s critique, noting that KPMG does not understand the laws.

The committee said a significant proportion of the issues described as “errors,” “gaps,” or “omissions” by KPMG are either the firm’s own errors and invalid conclusions, or matters not properly understood by the firm.

In a statement on Monday, the NRS said that Adedeji hosted a courtesy visit from the delegation of the tax advisory firm.

” During the visit, the KPMG team clarified that their earlier opinion on the new tax laws “had been misconstrued and expressed regret over the misunderstanding.

“They sought further clarity on the provisions of the laws and highlighted areas where recommendations could be made.”

The source said that the meeting ended with the delegation commended the NRS chairman for efficiently and promptly implementing the reforms.