By Nkechi Eze
The Nigeria Customs Service on Thursday, 20 November 2025, opened the 2025 Comptroller-General of Customs’ Conference in Abuja with a strong call for senior officers to confront the internal weaknesses undermining operational efficiency within the Service. The conference, held at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, set the tone for a self-reflective, strategy-driven engagement themed, “Building Future Partnerships: Lessons from the Customs-PACT Conference.”
Declaring the conference open, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, challenged participants to apply the same discipline, coordination and clarity that powered the successful Customs Partnership for African Cooperation in Trade (C-PACT) Summit to the Service’s day-to-day internal operations. He reminded the gathering that only a day earlier, the NCS had concluded a landmark continental summit that drew customs chiefs, private-sector partners and representatives from all African regions to Abuja.
While acknowledging the global recognition earned through the C-PACT engagement, Adeniyi emphasised that genuine institutional strength must begin from within. “You can’t sustain external credibility without internal integrity. Turn the mirror inward and force honest discussions about what is working, what is failing and what must change,” he cautioned.
Speaking further on the theme of the conference, the CGC explained that the purpose was to extract the organising principles behind the success of the C-PACT Summit coordination, unified messaging, disciplined execution and embed them permanently in the Customs operating culture. He recalled how, during the build-up to the international summit, the Service conducted weekly coordination meetings for 16 consecutive weeks, harmonising positions with AfCFTA, resolving issues swiftly and projecting unity because “failure was not an option with the world watching.”
Adeniyi noted that the two-day conference has been designed to foster critical thinking through panel sessions, challenging presentations and open, rank-neutral discussions, stressing that the Service must encourage an environment where ideas matter more than hierarchy. He urged senior officers to embrace reforms that prioritise transparency, teamwork and accountability as Customs continues to reposition itself for a future defined by innovation, trade facilitation and stronger partnerships.
The 2025 CGC Conference is expected to build on the momentum of the C-PACT Summit by driving internal coherence and strengthening the institutional culture needed for the Service to meet both national and continental expectations.
