How To Bid On The E-auction Portal Of Nigeria Customs Service

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) unveiled its revamped e-auction platform on Tuesday, January 16, 2024, for interested Nigerians to place bid on the available seized goods.

It says italigns with its efficiency and fairness strategic move in the newly enacted Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023.

Auctioning is a way of decongesting the Nigerian ports and warehouses across the country.

A cross section of seized vehicle by Nigeria Customs. They are put up for sale through auction if the owners failed to show up for clearance — *A cross-section of seized vehicles by Nigeria Customs in July 2018. Source: Premium Times*

Goods that are auctioned by the Nigeria Customs include impounded goods that are not cleared, cars in demurrage that have been abandoned by the owners, machinery etc.

As such, if you see anyone online either on social media or on a site who claims to be an accredited agent to auction seized vehicles, they are most likely a fraud.

The Nigeria Customs, which is coordinated by the Federal Ministry of Finance, has an upgraded electronic auction portal which is an upgraded version of the previous portal designed to provide Nigerians with an equal opportunity to participate.

Who cannot bid?

Nigeria Customs Officers
Owners of seized items are ineligible to participate

Requirements:

A valid Tax Identification Number (TIN). Ensure that your TIN is validated on FIRS Tax Promax.
An active email address
Payment of a non-refundable administrative fee of N1,000 online
Each bid attracts a participation fee of N1,000

Attention: You need to register and get a TIN if you don’t have one. If you’re unable to do this yourself, an agent charges between N5,000 to N7,000 to obtain a TIN for you.

Guidelines for participants

Winning bids must be validated at the Customs Area Controllers’ offices.
Prompt payment, 7.5% VAT, and refundable container deposit (if applicable) are mandatory.
If you are a successful bidder, you should promptly download your winning certificates through the provided link that will be sent to your email address.
Winners will be required to present the certificate where the goods are domiciled
Auction clearance is expected to be done within seven days.
Auctions are periodic and open every Tuesday from 12 noon to 6 pm
You can only bid for a maximum of two items
Allottee transfers and sales carry buyer’s risk. No replacements or refunds for paid charges.
Overtime cargo incurs an additional 50% charge of the winning bid (25% to shipping company and 25% to terminal operators).
Auction won is not refundable because items are “as it is”, meaning replacements will not honoured.
Winners claiming items must provide necessary documentation and identification.

Steps To Place a Bid:

Access the new e-bidding portal at auction.nigeriatradehub.gov.ng and sign up
Enter your TIN to sign up
Check your inbox to complete the registration process
Head back to the portal to place a bid
If won a bid, download your winning certificate, you will need to clear your vehicle
Ensure to clear your bid within three days, don’t wait till the seventh day.

According to the National Public Officer of NCS, Abdullahi Maiwada, a Chief Superintendent of Customs, the revamped portal has experienced impressive results by getting 1,099 registered applicants at the time of publication, it is expected to rise when TIN-related issues are resolved.

Reported Issues:

While the move by the Nigeria Customs Service to simplify online bidding for interested Nigerians is commendable, there are still some reported issues of systmatic corruption it needs to address.

For instance, some applicants who already have accounts for the old platform complain that they cannot access the re-designed e-auction platform. so, what happens to data migration?

The portal is returning errors. For instance, the e-bidding portal is marking the TIN of old and new applicants as “invalid”.

Also, there are still complaints from some of the former bidders that winning a bid is extremely difficult “if you don’t have an internal connection”.

We hope the Nigeria Customs Service address the issue of transparency and fairness in the bidding process for its seized vehicles and other products.

Registered users on the old platform couldn’t log on to the new one as their TIN is marked invalid.

The technical team of the paramilitary body should be on top of the situation to promptly address occasional glitches that are encountered by participants.