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• Terminal operators lament waiver of N500m demurrage
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has commenced the release and evacuation of 98 containers of power sector equipment out of the over 300 abandoned across the nation’s ports for between 14 and 20 years, following a presidential directive to remove bottlenecks delaying critical electricity projects.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Dr. Bashir Adeniyi, in a meeting with the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, at the Apapa Customs Command, released the first 44 containers at the ENL Consortium Terminal and APM Terminals in Lagos on Friday, November 6, 2026, which were loaded on trucks heading to Kaduna, Osun, Nasarawa and Cross River states for immediate deployment to ongoing power projects sites.
He said another 54 containers at other terminals in Tin Can and other ports will also be released in due course, noting that the containers had been inspected and certified as containing equipment suitable for the projects for which they were imported.
Adeniyi listed the abandoned equipment to include high-capacity transformers, high-tension wire, cables, switchgear, conductors, hydro, gas-fired, solar and other transmission materials for substations to generation points, imported through the Federal Ministry of Power and government agencies, including the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC).
“This is just a symbolic start. This process will continue until the last container related to the power projects is taken out of our ports. As we are doing this here, we are also going to do similar things in other ports on the western and eastern axes,” he said.
He attributed the prolonged stay of the equipment to outstanding charges and administrative bottlenecks and what he described as a disturbing pattern of contractors importing equipment for government projects only to abandon the consignments at the ports without executing the projects.
The Customs boss disclosed that the exercise had exposed cases of contractors who secured government permits to import project equipment but failed to fulfil their contractual obligations after the goods arrived in Nigeria.
Adeniyi said the Customs Service would work with relevant government agencies to identify such contractors and ensure they were held accountable.
Adeniyi said Customs had deployed facilitation measures, including priority processing, dedicated officers for joint examinations and approved waivers on charges incurred while the consignments remained at the ports.
This is just as APM Terminals said containers in its facility had accumulated over N500 million in waiver.
He noted that after clearance, technical experts would assess the equipment, with serviceable items deployed to ongoing and stalled projects, including transmission corridors and substations across the country, while obsolete materials would be disposed of in line with relevant regulations.
The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, disclosed that the equipment would be moved immediately to Kaduna, Lafia and Akwanga in Nasarawa State, as well as Ilaro in Osun State, to support ongoing transmission projects and strengthen connections between substations and generation points.
Tegbe explained that the equipment, which includes towers used to support high-voltage transmission lines and conductors for electricity transmission, had been inspected and certified fit for the projects for which they were imported.
Tegbe said the stranded equipment was originally procured for projects designed to expand the national transmission network, relieve overloaded substations and improve electricity delivery across the country.
He noted that the prolonged storage of the equipment had resulted in significant consequences, including delays in material supply, stalled transmission infrastructure projects and reduced operational flexibility for existing substations; and restricted the ability of the transmission network to deliver electricity to areas requiring additional capacity.
The minister described the evacuation as part of the Federal Government’s efforts to address longstanding structural challenges in the power sector, noting that some of the equipment had remained at the ports for between 10 and 14 years.
Tegbe added that the government was working to evacuate the remaining equipment from other ports, including Apapa and Tin Can Island ports, Onne, to ensure that stranded assets were delivered to their intended project locations.
The minister stressed that improving electricity supply remained central to the administration’s economic agenda, noting that reliable power was critical to industrialisation, economic growth and national prosperity.
He said the government was pursuing improvements across different energy sources, including hydro, gas-fired and solar power, while addressing transmission constraints that have continued to limit the delivery of generated electricity to consumers.
He particularly commended the Nigeria Customs Service for its cooperation in facilitating the evacuation, adding that the ministry’s technical team had inspected the equipment and matched them with the projects for which they were originally procured.
