Harboursandport.com: Lagos, Nigeria — November 28, 2025: The Council of Maritime Transport Unions and Associations, COMTUA has criticized the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA and its service provider, Truck Transit Parks, TTP, over the electronic call-up system introduced in 2021 to manage traffic around Lagos ports.
In an open letter signed by COMTUA’s National President, Adeyinka Aroyewun, the Union accused the system of failing to address congestion and instead creating avenues for extortion and inefficiency.
The electronic call-up system, launched in February 2021 under a five-year contract, was designed to streamline truck movement into Apapa and Tin Can Island ports. While NPA and TTP have claimed success, COMTUA argues that traffic only eased in 2024 due to road repairs, enforcement of empty container returns, and the use of barges and railways—not because of the call-up system.
COMTUA disputes claims that gridlock has disappeared, pointing to ongoing queues, checkpoints, and roadblocks manned by NPA security and law enforcement.
The Union alleges that military trucks and vehicles linked to NPA/TTP personnel gain privileged access to ports, while independent truckers wait weeks to secure entry.
Truckers reportedly pay over ₦60,000 per container to access Tin Can Island port, alongside rising costs for diesel, spare parts, and call-up fees, even as haulage rates have dropped by 60 per cent.
COMTUA referenced a 2021 incident in which truckers allegedly paid hundreds of millions of naira into a private TTP account for services not rendered. Though police investigations confirmed irregularities, no sanctions were imposed.
The Union insists that terminals and not NPA should manage truck scheduling, and that call-up fees should be covered by NPA’s cargo handling charges rather than imposed on truckers.
“We are the bereaved and that is why we cry,” Aroyewun wrote, emphasizing that truckers remain victims of a flawed system. The Union maintains that gridlock will persist until terminals are empowered to determine truck access independently. COMTUA also vowed to continue challenging NPA/TTP policies through legal means, rejecting what it described as “reinforcing failure.”
The dispute highlights ongoing tensions between truckers, port authorities, and government agencies over logistics management in Nigeria’s busiest maritime hub.
With court cases pending and accusations of fraud unresolved, the future of the electronic call-up system remains uncertain.
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