NAFDAC and SON Face Delays in Single‑Window Rollout

By Efe Onodjae

Delays in clearing documents at the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) have slowed the early rollout of the National Single Window (NSW) cargo‑clearing platform, officials said.

During a media briefing in Lagos, Tola Fakolade, Director of the NSW Secretariat, explained that the platform faced approval and processing delays because of difficulties reconciling data from government agencies and international partners.

He said the problems intensified in the first weeks after the platform went live, prompting authorities to form a special data‑migration team to clean and transfer records into the NSW system.

“We realised that because of the increasing pressure on approvals, we needed to provide some kind of temporary relief for importers affected by the migration challenges,” Fakolade said.

He noted that issues linked to SON approvals have fallen by more than 60 per cent since NSW management introduced interventions, and that about 99 per cent of complaints received on the platform have been resolved.

Most remaining complaints, he added, stem from user knowledge gaps and documentation requirements rather than system failures.

The NSW director also revealed that the platform processed 39,039 applications for licences, permits, certificates and other trade‑related documents within eight weeks of the first phase’s deployment.

A breakdown of the applications showed that SON accounted for roughly 79 per cent of total submissions with 30,937 applications, while NAFDAC represented about 20 per cent with 7,942 applications.

The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) processed 138 applications, and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) handled 22 applications during the review period.

Fakolade further disclosed that 7,567 users had been onboarded onto the platform, including importers, freight forwarders, licensed customs agents and clearing agents.

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