The crisis which attended the roll out of the National Single Window (NSW) system on March 27, 2026, has continued to worsen, according to industry operators. This is contrary to the promises and optimism earlier expressed by government officials in charge of the system.

The government agencies –the single window management team –who were on assessment of the digital platform on April 7, 2026, a few days after the roll-out, had acknowledged the challenges but had dismissed them as mere glitches and “teething problems” which would be overcome in a matter of days.

But nearly two months after, the crisis, instead of abating, has continued to worsen, leading to hysterical calls for suspension of the scheme by stakeholders.

According to a Direct Trader Input (DTI) officer in the Documentation Department at Don Climax Bonded Terminals, Esther Odueso, the integration has been so challenging, with the situation worsening by the day.

“The new Single Window has significantly affected our operations. Specifically, the requirement to manually upload approval documents before the NSW generates a code –coupled with the B’Odogwu portal frequently rejecting those codes, has created a severe bottleneck,” she said.

“As a DTI officer, my daily output has dropped from 30 PAAR submissions to just seven (7). This delay is currently posing a significant risk to our departmental efficiency and the company’s output,” the Don Climax staff lamented.

She said the integration problem is more challenging between regulatory agencies’ –NAFDAC, SON and the B’Odogwu –portals.   

The DTI is a web-based electronic facility designed by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to allow licensed customs agents, importers, and shipping companies to submit declarations and manifest information directly to the ASYCUDA (Automated System for Customs Data) platform, now B’Odogwu.

The facility enables importers or agents to capture and transmit SGD information directly from their own computers (Private DTI) or through licensed DTI Cafés (Public DTI) into the NICIS (Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System) server, thereby enabling a paperless environment and moving away from manual, paper-heavy processes.  

This has been going on seamlessly till the introduction of the Single Window platform.

According to stakeholders, key challenges confronting the NSW include integration issues with regulatory bodies, failed documentation submissions such as manifest uploads from shipping partners and difficulties in transmitting Product Certificates for Form M and SONCAP required for PAAR processing.

Other issues include systemic data errors such as limited space for entering trader names, incorrect data formatting, missing 10-digit product codes, ambiguous error prompts, and difficulties linking Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) to user profiles.

Many customs agents and freight forwarders have described the NSW initiative, as being implemented, as frustrating and disruptive. They lament that instead of the problem reducing, it has continued to worsen with dire consequences on goods clearance at the ports.        

Worse still, they regret that the initiative which is designed to integrate all port-related documentation and processes into a centralized digital platform, significantly reduce cargo clearance time, eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks, and curb revenue leakages that have long plagued the nation’s ports, has been doing the exact opposite since introduction.

At the moment, clearing agents still navigate multiple platforms, terminal operators still deal with fragmented processes, just as shipping lines still interface with overlapping regulatory requirements.

Meanwhile, over 20,000 containers are said to be stranded at the ports as the frequent downtime, poor integration with existing platforms, documentation failures, and lack of clarity in operational procedures persist. Just as the calls for suspension of the scheme become more and more strident.