The Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA) resolved a commercial dispute between NIPCO Gas Ltd and Sifax Off-Dock Terminal over exorbitant container dwell-time and demurrage charges. After NPERA’s Complaints Unit intervened on site, the Consignee was shielded from an accumulated liability exceeding ₦117 million on ten containers (8X40FT and two 2X20FT units) that remained bottlenecked due to inter-agency regulatory directives.
Chronology of the Dispute
The operational gridlock originated from a documentation discrepancy between NIPCO Gas Ltd and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). The sequence of events unfolded as follows:
September 24, 2026 : The then-Comptroller of Customs approved the release of the subject containers under a Customs Bank Bond, a financial guarantee or legal contract used to secure the temporary release of imported cargo before all final administrative or documentation requirements are fully settled.
Normally, imported goods cannot leave a terminal until customs processing is complete and duties are settled. A Customs Bank Bond allows the importer (NIPCO Gas) to take possession or begin moving cargo earlier, with a bank or insurance company acting as a guarantor to pay any owed government liabilities if obligations are unmet. This bond-backed approval prompted the immediate issuance of the Terminal Delivery Order (TDO).
October 3, 2026 : Haulage operations commenced, and the containers were loaded onto trucks for gate-out. However, a sudden enforcement directive from the newly appointed Comptroller halted the exit to allow for secondary document verification.
October 23, 2026: Following thorough re-verification, Customs authorities formally cleared the consignment for gate-out. The Deputy Comptroller in Charge of the Terminal (DC E. Chibouke) directly notified Sifax representative Oliver Omajuwa via phone, confirming that the clearance delay was entirely regulatory and instructing that the cargo be released under the original billing cycle.
The Impasse : Sifax management refused the directive, demanding fresh demurrage and truck detention/parking fees up to the current date, although the containers had remained mounted and locked on the haulage trucks inside the terminal compound throughout the regulatory hold.
NPERA’s Intervention
Acting under its statutory mandate as the economic regulator for Port Service Providers and Users, NPERA’s Complaints Team, led by the Head of the Complaints Unit, Dr. Juliana Saka, conducted an emergency on-site inspection at the Sifax Off-Dock facility on October 26, 2026.
NPERA’s Stance: Dr. Saka emphasized that Consignees cannot be penalized with heavy storage fees resulting from extended cargo dwell times caused strictly by post-clearance regulatory interventions. She raised critical compliance questions about whether the Agency’s tariff division has formally vetted and ratified Sifax’s enforced tariff schedule.
Sifax Terminal Management: Represented by Mr. Emeka Mba and terminal delegates, Sifax acknowledged the inventory count (8X40FT and 2X20FT) and the timeline of events. While acknowledging the regulatory interception, terminal management maintained that liability waivers fall outside local operational discretion and require corporate head office approval, while attributing initial delays to documentation compliance lapses by the Consignee.
NPERA Directives
To safeguard seamless trade facilitation and operational efficiency within the logistics chain, NPERA issued the following binding directives to Sifax Off-Dock Terminal:
- At the instance of NPERA’s emergency intervention, Sifax management immediately escalated the ₦117,160,126 disputed invoice to its corporate headquarters to secure a full commercial waiver for storage and detention charges accrued due to the post-gate-out regulatory hold.
- The terminal is mandated to review the billing structure and immediately revert to NPERA-approved baseline tariff rates.
- NPERA disclosed plans for a joint inspection involving its regulatory services tariff division to audit Sifax’s terminal tariff schedule and verify its statutory approval status.
- Both parties were urged to maintain constructive commercial dialogue to prevent future supply chain disruptions.
