Port Operations War: NPA’s Warri Push Sparks Lagos Fury — Who Bears the Blame for Gridlock?

By AWC Maritime Desk | December 2025

Nigeria’s port sector has erupted in controversy, as the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) intensifies efforts to revive the long-neglected Warri Port Complex and Koko Port — a move sharply criticized by the government of Lagos State, which accuses the Authority of favouritism and claims that chronic congestion at its ports stems from NPA’s own inefficiency.

As the tug-of-war over port supremacy intensifies, many are asking: is the NPA’s strategy a necessary national recalibration — or a divisive power play that risks undermining Nigeria’s maritime unity?

What NPA Is Doing: Reviving Delta Ports for National Relief

Faced with years of overburdened facilities at Apapa and Tin-Can Island, the NPA this year moved to reactivate Warri and Koko ports with renewed focus and public investment.

• Recent internal data show the Delta ports now handle an average of 45 vessels per month, with turnaround times reduced to just 2.9 days and waiting times below 2 days — competitive metrics by regional standards.
• The strategy is being pitched as a national decongestion plan, designed not only to relieve Lagos’ overtaxed port corridor, but also to open up maritime traffic to underserved southern and inland regions, including the South-South, Southeast, and North-Central.
• The NPA’s board, under pressure to modernise Nigeria’s port infrastructure and stimulate regional trade, reportedly held multiple engagements with Delta State leadership and local traditional rulers to expedite dredging, breakwater rehabilitation, and dredging of the critical Escravos Channel.

Supporters of the move argue that the shift marks a long-overdue “blue-economy renaissance” — a deliberate effort to distribute port traffic, create jobs, diversify regional economies, and reduce the environmental and logistical costs of over-concentration in Lagos.

Why Lagos Government and Stakeholders Are Alarmed

But Lagos officials, some freight operators, and many port-community stakeholders view the NPA’s shift differently — as a reckless abandonment of Lagos in favour of Delta, ignoring the root causes of Apapa’s chronic gridlock. Among their complaints:

• Rampant inefficiency, corruption, and racketeering within port operations — multiple toll points, favouritism, unreliable e-call-up systems, and extortion along the port corridor.
• Structural bottlenecks and poor enforcement rather than physical capacity shortage, which Lagos argues the NPA should address first instead of relocating cargoes.
• The fear that shifting cargo to Delta ports will erode Lagos’s economic advantage, affect thousands of businesses and workers dependent on port-driven commerce, and deepen regional tensions over maritime trade dominance.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Lagos Governor on Transport and Logistics described the move as “an unpopular decision” and insisted that the real problem lies in policy and institutional reform, not geographic reallocation.

The Wider Economic Fallout: Loss to Business, Investors, and Credibility

The controversy unfolds against a troubling economic backdrop:

• A 2025 report by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) estimated that structural inefficiencies at Nigerian ports cost businesses up to ₦2.5 trillion annually, through delays, demurrage charges, and unpredictable logistics.
• For many importers and exporters, the unpredictability of port access — combined with alleged extortion by non-state actors at checkpoints along port corridors — continues to raise the cost of doing business in Nigeria, weakening competitiveness under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Business operators warn that the shift to Delta ports may reduce Lagos congestion, but will also increase transport costs, inland logistics complexity, and uncertainty, especially for businesses whose supply chains depend on the dense infrastructure and hinterland connectivity that Lagos offers.

Who’s Right? The Reality is Nuanced — Port Revival Needs Reform, Not Replacement

Where NPA’s Move Makes Sense

• Warri and Koko had long been under-utilized; bringing them online helps distribute national port load, reduce risk of over-concentration, and build resilience.
• Improved operational metrics at Delta ports show that with investment — dredging, dredging, breakwater repair — they can relieve Lagos pressure while serving other regions better.

Where the Reform Falls Short

• Lagos’s structural issues (corruption, inefficiency, road bottlenecks, mismanagement) remain unresolved — shifting ports does not eliminate them.
• Delta ports still suffer from legacy challenges: shallow draughts, need for continuous dredging, inadequate hinterland connectivity, insufficient tug/pilot services — issues that contributed to their earlier dormancy.
• Economic cost for cargo owners — inland transportation from Delta to north or east adds miles and cost, potentially erasing savings from faster turnaround.
• Displacement of workforce and businesses around Lagos ports — dockworkers, clearing agents, truckers — who may face job losses or relocation.

What Needs to Happen If the Port Shift Is To Work — Five Critical Recommendations

1. Comprehensive dredging and maintenance of the Escravos Channel, breakwaters, and navigational infrastructure — permanently, not as a one-off.
2. Transparent pricing & port-charge regulation, to ensure Delta ports are competitive without creating new burdens for cargo owners.
3. Improvement of hinterland connectivity — roads, rail, pipelines — to ensure cargoes from Delta can reach other regions efficiently.
4. Root-out corruption, extortion and bureaucratic bottlenecks at all ports: Lagos and Delta alike. Must institutionalise e-call-up reforms, reduce tolls, police checkpoints, eliminate racketeering.
5. Social impact mitigation for Lagos port communities — job retraining, alternative employment schemes for those affected by cargo diversion.

The Bottom Line: Port Revival Should Supplement — Not Supplant — Reform

The NPA’s attempt to decentralise Nigeria’s maritime infrastructure via Warri and Koko ports is not misguided — it recognises that over-reliance on Lagos alone is unsustainable.
Used correctly, the revival could diversify trade, reduce congestion, and open economic opportunities across the country.

But that potential can only be realised if the shift is accompanied by serious reforms — dredging, connectivity, regulatory transparency, and fair play for all stakeholders.

As it stands today, the debate is not merely about which port wins, but about how Nigeria manages its maritime future — whether through inclusive reform or exclusionary power play.

If the NPA and Lagos government find a path to reconcile, the “Ports War” could instead become a Ports Revival for all.