Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has commenced the evacuation of 98 containers of electricity transmission equipment that had remained stranded at the Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports in Lagos for between 14 and 20 years.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, announced this on Friday during the flag-off of the evacuation exercise in Lagos.
He said the first 44 containers were being released from ENL Consortium Terminal, while another 54 containers at APM Terminals and Sun and Moon terminals would also be evacuated.
The consignments contain high-capacity transformers, electrical cables, switchgear and other transmission equipment imported for the Federal Ministry of Power and government agencies, including the Transmission Company of Nigeria and the Niger Delta Power Holding Company.
Adeniyi explained that the evacuation followed President Bola Tinubu’s directive for the immediate clearance of the equipment and the resolution of outstanding charges and administrative bottlenecks.
He also acknowledged the Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, for approving waivers on accumulated charges, which had prevented the release of the containers.
The Customs chief said the service had introduced priority processing and dedicated officers for joint examinations to accelerate the exercise.
He added that technical experts would inspect the equipment after evacuation to determine their condition, noting that serviceable items would be deployed to ongoing and uncompleted transmission projects, while obsolete ones would be disposed of based on expert recommendations.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, said the prolonged delay had stalled critical electricity projects, leaving existing substations under pressure and limiting the country’s transmission capacity.
He disclosed that some of the recovered equipment had been identified for deployment to locations including Kaduna, Lafia, Kwale and other parts of the country.
Tegbe said engineers would verify the inventory, assess the condition of the materials and carry out necessary repairs before deployment.
The minister added that the release of the equipment would help expand the national transmission network, ease pressure on existing substations and improve electricity delivery to Nigerians.
