*Demurrage waiver to be granted to importers with proof of impact

The National Single Window (NSW) management has disclosed that 99 per cent of the 9,800 cases of operational challenges on licence, permit, certificate and other document (LPCO) involving the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has been resolved.
  Speaking at a press briefing to on the platform’s performance since its March 27, 2026 go-live at the weekend in Lagos, the Director of Operations, NSW, Peter Ekunkoya, acknowledged that the initial disruptions experienced after the launch were largely caused by regulatory agencies data migration difficulties, gaps in documentation and overlapping regulatory mandates among government agencies, which was occurred till April 2026.
  
He said the rollout of the LPCO model exposed major deficiencies in the quality of data received from agencies, particularly during the migration process.
  Ekunkoya explained that some data fields were either incomplete or entirely missing, making reconciliation with records from international partners difficult and creating delays in approvals.
  He said the NSW team subsequently undertook a comprehensive cleanup and phased migration of the data, while also introducing temporary measures to prevent importers from being stranded.
  
He further noted that importers whose applications were affected by missing records were granted a grace period to clear consignments temporarily, especially where applications for product certificates or shipment certificates had already been submitted.
  Ekunkoya disclosed that since inception, the NSW help desk recorded about 9,800 issues, with over 6,000 of them occurring within the first four weeks after rollout.
  He added that the platform initially recorded an average of about 1,500 complaints weekly, but this has now declined significantly in the last four week to less than 900, and in some cases 800.
  
According to him, 99 per cent of all reported issues have been resolved, with only 135 outstanding cases, out of which just about 50 are above the agreed resolution timeline.
   Ekunkoya further disclosed that help desk complaints relating to SON migration issues have dropped by more than 60 per cent, with most current complaints now linked to knowledge gaps among users regarding document requirements and attachment procedures.
  On NAFDAC-related challenges, he said the situation was more complicated because the agency was already dealing with an internal backlog before transitioning into the NSW platform.
  
He recalled that NAFDAC’s software experienced operational problems in December 2025, resulting in a buildup of pending approvals which later migrated into the NSW platform.
  He revealed that extensive meetings had been held with NAFDAC to review performance metrics and separate approval processes for master documents and consignment documents.
  Addressing concerns over demurrage waiver and delays experienced during the early stages of implementation, the Director and Project Head, NSW Project, Tola Fakolade, said discussions with terminal operators and shipping companies led to an agreement of granting waivers based on evidence showing that consignments were directly impacted by issues from the NSW.
 
He said shipping lines and terminal operators agreed against granting blank waivers for demurrage charges, citing fears that such concessions could be abused by traders.
  According to him, an agreement was reached to review requests on a case-by-case basis where importers or their agents can provide evidence showing that their consignments were directly impacted by issues arising from the Single Window platform.
 “They are open that if importers or their agents can prove that their shipment was impacted by the Single Window, with proof of time, date and all required documentation, they will review it and apply some form of waiver, reduced charges or relief,” he explained.
   
The NSW project head noted that most of the technical issues affecting permit retrieval and processing had been resolved through collaboration with SON, NAFDAC and the Nigeria Customs Service.
 Fakolade said the platform had recorded significant improvements in May following interventions introduced after the April disruptions.
 Fakolade further disclosed that the digital platform is set to commence full rollout for shipping lines after concluding final testing with stakeholders across the maritime sector.