Following the news in 2016 that the Federal Government was working towards transfer of overtime containers to Ikorodu Port Terminal, President, Nigerian Importers Integrity Association, NIIA, Mr Godwin Onyekazi, has kicked against the planned transfer of long-standing containers to off-dock facilities, especially the Ikorodu Lighter Terminal.
Mr Onyekazi, who spoke on Monday, 13th February, 2017 in Lagos, against the backdrop of clamour by some clearing agents at Ikorodu for the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, to transfer overtime containers from the main port to the terminal.
According to Nation Online, the NIIA president said the seaports were operating well below capacity, and government should not transfer overtime containers to Ikorodu. He added that congestion in the terminals has always been cited as the reason for transfer of containers, but the present economic downturn has resulted in less than 40 percent yard occupancy for most terminals, noting that the reason effectively undermines the basis for transferring overtime cargo to Ikorodu.
Citing a statement released by the Senate in November 2016, which highlighted that fact that the containers transferred to the Ikorodu Lighter Terminal have been abandoned, with goods worth billions of naira rotting away, Mr Godwin said moving more containers to the terminal will result in terrible decline in the condition of the containers and cargo, and lead to avoidance of charges by importers who abandoned their cargo at the ports.
