Access Bank Paralyses Port Operations as 72-Hour Network Failure Traps Billions in Customs Revenue
Billions of dollars in revenue that are supposed to be generated by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at the Apapa and Tin-Can Island Ports have been trapped due to a persistent network failure of Access Bank, which has halted the payment of Customs duties on imported cargoes for over 72 hours.
Confirming the development, the National Publicity Secretary of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Emmanuel Onyeme, who raised the alarm, said the payment challenge has persisted since Monday and remains unresolved as of Wednesday.
Speaking to Journalists, Onyeme explained that while other duty-collecting banks, including First Bank and Zenith Bank, remain operational and are successfully processing payments through the Nigeria Customs Service B’Odogwu platform, Access Bank has falsely blamed the challenge on the B’Odogwu platform.
He said the situation has led to cargoes trapped inside the port with accumulated demurrage already on them.
He said, “Access babk duty payment has not been going since Monday. Up till now 72 hours nothing has been done by Access bank. I submitted assessment since 9:am on Monday and to this very time, the bank is claiming that it is B’odogwu whereas other banks are working. . .. First Bank, Zenith, other banks are working but their own network has been down since Monday and we can’t pay our duty. They are claiming the problem is B’odogwu but it is not true.
“As we speak, there has not been any official communication from Access bank till this moment. Their regional manager called that they are trying to resolve it but when you get to the bank they will tell you that it is B’odogwu platform. Are the other banks not using B’odogwu platform and they have been working,…
“We are going to suffer accumulation of demmurage through shipping companies and terminal charges. To this very moment, they have not come out to issue any statement to tell us their challenges, ” Onyeme lamented.
