The Sea Empowerment Research Centre (SEREC)<\/strong> has raised concerns that the forthcoming Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) collection system<\/strong> could pose significant disruptions to trade operations<\/strong> if critical implementation issues are not addressed before it becomes operational in January 2026. The Guardian Nigeria<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n In a policy brief<\/strong> published in the centre\u2019s weekly bulletin, the research body expressed caution over the planned engagement of third-party vendors to manage the new revenue collection platforms<\/strong>, warning such arrangements might create opaque intermediary channels, facilitate off-ledger transactions, and weaken parliamentary oversight<\/strong> over key maritime revenue streams. The Guardian Nigeria<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The NRS is expected to consolidate revenue administration currently handled by multiple agencies \u2014 including the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Shippers\u2019 Council,<\/strong> and the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN)<\/strong> \u2014 under a unified framework. The Guardian Nigeria<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n While SEREC acknowledged the reform\u2019s potential to eliminate duplicate charges, enhance trade facilitation, and strengthen audit trails,<\/strong> the centre warned that public distrust rooted in corruption, poor infrastructure delivery, and rising insecurity<\/strong> could undermine confidence in the system. The Guardian Nigeria<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n SEREC further cautioned that the proprietary nature of the proposed collection systems \u2014 operated by third-party vendors \u2014 could introduce short-term trade disruptions<\/strong>, increase cargo clearance times<\/strong>, and trigger liquidity challenges<\/strong> for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and transport operators reliant on port throughput, potentially raising costs and reducing Nigeria\u2019s competitiveness<\/strong> at key seaports. The Guardian Nigeria<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The research brief, signed by SEREC\u2019s Head of Research, Dr. Eugene Nweke<\/strong>, stressed the need for transparent governance frameworks, independent oversight mechanisms, and stakeholder engagement<\/strong> to mitigate the risks associated with transitioning to the new NRS revenue collection model. The Guardian Nigeria<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n December 10, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n Source: The Guardian Nigeria<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Sea Empowerment Research Centre (SEREC) has raised concerns that the forthcoming Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) collection system could pose significant disruptions to trade operations if critical implementation issues are not addressed before it becomes operational in January 2026. The Guardian Nigeria In a policy brief published in the centre\u2019s weekly bulletin, the research body…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1379"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1380,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379\/revisions\/1380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1379"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_folder&post=1379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}