The Nigerian Ports Authority asserts the electronic call-up system introduced to streamline the movement of trucks in and out of the port has come to stay.
The General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications at the NPA, Mr. Ikechukwu Onyemekara, stated this in a telephone conversation with media source on Monday while reacting to the demand by some sections of freight forwarders for the scrapping of the platform introduced at Onne Port.
Recall that the Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria, in a letter over the weekend addressed to the Managing Director of the NPA, Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, raised concerns over recent introduction of a call-up system at the Onne Port, as well as emerging challenges surrounding the export terminal operations at the port.
The group, in a letter signed by its National President, Frank Ogunojemite, obtained by media, explained that it is worrisome that this call-up system has been introduced at Onne Port with associated costs, especially when the West Africa Container Terminal operating within the same port already has facilities that can effectively manage traffic without incurring any additional charges to port users.
“This development is particularly troubling in light of the Federal Government’s continuous efforts to reduce the cost of port operations, promote the ease of doing business, and reposition Nigeria as a maritime hub in West Africa. Adding more cost layers through a duplicative or commercially driven call-up system undermines these objectives and threatens Nigeria’s regional competitiveness,” he said.
According to him, the situation at the export terminal in Onne Port is alarming, adding that exporters are now confronted with additional charges and bureaucratic bottlenecks, which significantly discourage exports and run counter to the national agenda of boosting non-oil exports.
“These inefficiencies and rising costs not only impede business operations but also risk driving exporters to neighbouring ports in other West African countries. As a key stakeholder representing freight forwarders and logistics professionals across Nigeria, we respectfully appeal to your esteemed office to immediately suspend the newly introduced call-up system at Onne Port, pending a comprehensive stakeholder consultation and cost-benefit analysis,” he stated.
Ogunojemite urged NPA to ensure uniform policy implementation across all port terminals, especially where existing infrastructure, like that at WACT, already adequately addresses traffic flow and control.
“Address the bottlenecks and extra charges associated with the export terminal at Onne in order to encourage export activities and align with the FG’s trade facilitation policies. We firmly believe that your leadership will continue to uphold fairness, transparency, and national interest in all decisions relating to port operations. It is our hope that these matters will receive your urgent attention in order to protect the growth of our maritime sector and the wider economy. We are open to a roundtable engagement with NPA and relevant agencies to further discuss these issues and propose workable solutions,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, in his response, Onyemekara maintained that the platform has come to stay.
“The call-up system has come to stay. You see, the truth is that the call-off system, without telling anybody, is a successful system that has helped. The success it has recorded in the Lagos area is what is being replicated in Onne Port. So, if a particular section or a particular group is making some statements against it, why are other groups not making that statement? Do you understand? It’s not only one group that is operating in the ports. If other groups have embraced it and are happy about the system, why is one group complaining about it? Why are the groups not doing the same thing? So, it’s not difficult for us to know what is working. In the Lagos area, it has worked, worked, and that’s what we want to replicate in Onne,” he stated.
The electronic call‑up system (also called the E‑call‑up system) is a digital platform introduced by the NPA to regulate and schedule the movement of trucks (and their access) into and out of its major port complexes (notably the Lagos Port Complex – Apapa and Tincan Island) in Lagos, Nigeria. The system is known as “Ẹ̀tó” (derived from the Yoruba word meaning “line up” or “schedule”) and is meant to function as a truck appointment/book‑in system similar to truck booking systems at other major ports globally. Transporters/truck owners are required to register in the system, schedule their entry via the app, park at approved truck parks/holding bays, and only enter the port when “called up” via the system. In simpler terms, it is an app/online platform + truck park + scheduling/queueing mechanism set up by NPA to manage truck traffic at the ports.
