By Nkechi Eze
The Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Adewale Adeniyi, has declared that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is consolidating its transformation into a modern, intelligence-driven institution that simultaneously protects society and facilitates lawful trade, as he officially launched the Nigeria Time Release Study (TRS) and led activities marking the 2026 International Customs Day in Abuja.
Speaking at the event held at the Ladi Kwali Hall of the Abuja Continental Hotel, CGC Adeniyi described the commemoration and the launch of the TRS as a dual milestone in the Service’s journey toward building a Customs administration that protects society while enabling prosperity through efficient and predictable trade processes.
He welcomed officers and men of the Service, sister government agencies, the private sector and international partners, appreciating their presence and continued support toward strengthening the Nigeria Customs Service.
The CGC explained that the World Customs Organization (WCO) dedicated the 2026 International Customs Day to the theme, “Customs Protecting Society Through Vigilance and Commitment,” noting that the theme speaks directly to the mandate of the Nigeria Customs Service and the daily realities of officers at borders, ports and communities across the country.
According to him, WCO themes are not ceremonial slogans but practical expressions of the obligations Customs administrations owe to the societies they serve. He stressed that while protection is a daily responsibility of Customs, vigilance and commitment describe the discipline and mindset required to prevent harm before it reaches the public.
Drawing from over three decades of service, CGC Adeniyi observed that public perception of Customs protecting society is often limited to revenue generation, tariff enforcement, or seizures of items such as rice, vehicles and petroleum products. While acknowledging these as legitimate functions, he emphasised that they represent only a fraction of the Service’s true mandate.
He explained that real protection involves intercepting narcotics capable of destroying young lives, blocking counterfeit medicines that endanger patients, seizing hazardous environmental materials, preventing arms from reaching criminal networks, and ensuring that imported products are safe for consumption. In many cases, he noted, the public may never see these interventions, but would certainly feel their devastating consequences if Customs failed to act.
Reflecting on operational outcomes from the previous year, the CGC stated that the Service, working closely with sister agencies, disrupted multiple criminal supply chains before they reached Nigerian communities. He disclosed that officers at Apapa Port uncovered 16 containers of prohibited goods valued at over ₦10 billion, combining narcotics, expired pharmaceuticals and concealed firearms in a single operation. At the airports, officers intercepted more than 1,600 exotic birds being trafficked without CITES permits, thereby halting a major wildlife crime operation. Across land borders, teams seized illicit narcotics, counterfeit medicines worth hundreds of millions of naira, as well as ammunition and other prohibited items moving through covert routes.
He stressed that while such operations may not dominate headlines for long, their impact is enduring, translating into fewer young people exposed to harmful drugs, fewer weapons reaching criminal networks, fewer counterfeit medicines reaching patients, and fewer endangered species removed from Nigeria’s ecosystem.
In cumulative terms, the CGC revealed that the Service recorded over 2,500 seizures nationwide, with an aggregate value exceeding ₦59 billion in prohibited and harmful goods. These seizures spanned narcotics, counterfeit pharmaceuticals, wildlife products, arms and ammunition, petroleum products, vehicles and substandard consumer goods, preventing addiction, unsafe treatment, violent crime, subsidy exploitation, environmental degradation, treaty violations and avoidable funerals.
CGC Adeniyi, however, emphasised that vigilance must coexist with facilitation, stressing that a modern Customs administration must detect high-risk consignments without suffocating legitimate trade. It was within this context, he said, that the official launch of the Time Release Study becomes highly significant.
He described the TRS as a major step toward making Nigeria’s trade gateways secure, efficient, predictable and globally competitive, noting that it signals a shift from opinion-driven reforms to evidence-based reforms, and from complaints-driven policy to data-driven policy.
The CGC disclosed that the study conducted at Tincan Island Port provides the most comprehensive measurement of clearance performance in recent history. While examination times were found to be relatively efficient, the study revealed that excessive idle periods largely arising from fragmented scheduling, manual documentation and poor inter-agency coordination significantly extend clearance times and undermine competitiveness.
He explained that validated clearance timelines covering more than 600 declarations, combining manual timestamps and platform data, now make it possible to identify precisely how long it takes for cargo to move from booking for examination to physical gate exit, as well as where bottlenecks are concentrated.
Armed with this evidence, he said, the Service is better positioned to protect Nigerian traders and the economy through a combination of border security and procedural reform.
The CGC further noted that the TRS underscores the reality that Customs cannot reform the ports ecosystem alone, stressing that terminal operators, shipping lines, partner government agencies, truckers, brokers, banks and port authorities must operate as a synchronised system rather than parallel silos. He announced that the TRS would be institutionalised as a regular diagnostic tool, rather than a one-off exercise, to support continuous monitoring, learning and reform.
On revenue performance, CGC Adeniyi announced that the Nigeria Customs Service collected a total of ₦7.281 trillion in 2025, exceeding its target of ₦6.584 trillion by a positive variance of ₦697 billion, representing growth of over 10 percent against target. Compared to 2024 collections of ₦6.1 trillion, the 2025 figure reflects an increase of approximately ₦1.18 trillion, or about 19 percent year-on-year.
He stressed that the figures are presented not as self-congratulation, but as evidence that reform is yielding tangible outcomes, driven by improved compliance, better data utilisation, digital tools and disciplined enforcement, rather than arbitrary enforcement or the burdening of legitimate traders. He added that the performance was achieved while deepening collaboration with the private sector and upholding facilitation commitments.
Looking ahead, the CGC outlined a three-pronged strategy for sustaining the dual mission of protecting society and enabling prosperity. This includes investing in intelligence-led, technology-driven enforcement through tools such as risk management, non-intrusive inspection, post-clearance audit and data analytics; institutionalising procedural reforms that reduce clearance times and eliminate bottlenecks; and strengthening partnerships with government agencies, the organised private sector, port and maritime operators, financial institutions and international bodies such as the WCO.
In his closing remarks, CGC Adeniyi reiterated that protecting society through vigilance and commitment is a long-term philosophy rather than a one-year slogan, stressing that safety and prosperity are not mutually exclusive and that Customs stands at the nexus of economic growth and national security.
He acknowledged the support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the ongoing reform process, appreciated the Honourable Ministers present, the WCO and the Government of the United Kingdom for supporting the TRS programme, and commended officers of the Nigeria Customs Service who continue to work in challenging environments, alongside partners in government and industry.
He called on stakeholders to use the year not only to celebrate Customs, but to make the institution more vigilant, more committed, more transparent and more efficient.
