{"id":353734,"date":"2026-03-16T03:43:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T02:43:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/?p=353734"},"modified":"2026-03-15T18:09:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T17:09:32","slug":"npa-license-approval-delays-is-worrisome-anlca-scribe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/?p=353734","title":{"rendered":"NPA LICENSE APPROVAL DELAYS IS WORRISOME—ANLCA SCRIBE"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Clearing agents operating at the nation\u2019s ports have criticized the Nigerian Ports Authority ( NPA) over it\u2019s silence regarding unprocessed operational licenses.<\/div>\n
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The agents warned that the situation could disrupt cargo clearance activities across the ports if urgent action is not taken.<\/div>\n
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Speaking during a media briefing, the National Public Relations Officer of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Mr. Emmanuel Onyeme called out spokesperson of the NPA, Mr. Ikechukwu Onyemekara, over alleged failure to respond to calls and messages from stakeholders.<\/div>\n
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Onyeme said dozens of freight agents who submitted applications for the NPA\u2019s Clearing & Forwarding License operational clearance for PortPASS- an authority to do business with shipping companies have not received any response for more than two weeks<\/div>\n
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According to Onyeme, the approval from the NPA is a crucial requirement that allows freight agents to gain access to the ports and transact business with shipping companies and terminal operators after securing their licences from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).<\/div>\n
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\u201cWithout the Clearing & Forwarding License issued by the NPA, freight agents can not access the ports or engage shipping companies and terminal operators for cargo releases . It is a critical operational requirement,\u201d Onyeme said.<\/div>\n
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He disclosed that the approval process, which was previously handled at NPA offices within the seaports, has recently been centralised at the authority\u2019s headquarters, forcing agents to submit their documents directly to the office of the Managing Director.<\/div>\n
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However, Onyeme noted that many of the applications have remained unattended to it.<\/div>\n
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\u201cAs we speak, several freight agents have submitted their documents to the Managing Director\u2019s office, and these applications have been lying there for more than two weeks without any form of response,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n
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He warned that the silence from the authority is already creating anxiety within the freight forwarding community, especially as many shipping companies and terminal operators have indicated that from April 1, 2026, previously issued NPA Licence approvals will no longer be recognised.<\/div>\n
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Onyeme further expressed frustration over the lack of communication from the NPA\u2019s spokesman, alleging that repeated attempts by stakeholders to reach him have been unsuccessful.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe situation is worrisome because there is absolutely no feedback. Calls and text messages sent to the NPA spokesperson have not been responded to, leaving Custom Brokers and freight forwarders agents in the dark over the fate of their applications,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n
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According to him, the delay could prevent many licensed customs agents from accessing the ports or engaging shipping companies, thereby affecting cargo clearance and port-related businesses.<\/div>\n
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He therefore called on the management of the NPA to urgently intervene and ensure that the pending approvals are processed without further delay.<\/div>\n
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\u201cEven if the Managing Director is out of the country or unavailable, there should be a system that allows someone else to handle such important operational matters promptly,\u201d Onyeme added.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos<\/div>\n
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Clearing agents operating at the nation\u2019s ports have criticized the Nigerian Ports Authority ( NPA) over it\u2019s silence regarding unprocessed operational licenses. The agents warned that the situation could disrupt cargo clearance activities across the ports if urgent action is not taken. Speaking during a media briefing, the National Public Relations Officer of the Association […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67315,"featured_media":353777,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-353734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-maritime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/67315"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=353734"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":353784,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353734\/revisions\/353784"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/353777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=353734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=353734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=353734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}