As Nigeria grapples with financial difficulties and hardship occasioned by the current economic crunch, 259 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the country have called upon President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to replicate the innovations and ground breaking feats applied by the Nigeria Customs Service in its innovative revenue generation drive and collection.
The CSOs operating under the aegis of the Coalition for Transparency and Economic Reforms (COTER), noted that the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu administration is already yielding appreciable results through the innovative revenue drive exemplified by the Nigeria Customs and which has resulted in unprecedented higher revenue collection by the Service in its 134 years of existence.
The coalition however urged President Tinubu to consider merit, proven capacity, integrity and productivity as crucial criteria in appointing a new Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service to succeed the outgoing CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, as he proceeds on a terminal leave ahead of his retirement from service.
“With the incumbent CGC due to retire in the next few months, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must ensure that the appointment of his successor is strictly based on merit, proven capacity and integrity, so as to upscale the current revenue target,” it said.
The Coalition stated these in a statement jointly signed by its President, Dr Peter Chima Chukwu and General Secretary, Mallam Auta Ibrahim Koko and made available to newsmen on Wednesday.
The CSOs stated that going by the exhilarating results from the country’s sea ports in terms of revenue generation and collection, particularly at the Apapa Customs Area Command, the President has the duty to ensure that the type of competent and efficient leadership put in charge of these “performing commands” by the outgoing CGC Adeniyi, especially in the past one year, should be encouraged for the enhancement of services and betterment of the NCS operations in general.
The CSOs, which praised the outgoing CGC Adeniyi for taking the Customs to greater heights in his short but eventful tenure, noted that these three port commands have been contributing significantly to Nigeria’s economic well-being, industry growth and national security through their sustenance and improvement of intelligence sharing, robust interactions, cooperation with sister government agencies and regular stakeholder engagements.
The coalition added that the policy thrust of the outgoing CGC, including the deployment of a Unified Customs Management System, popularly known as B’Odogwu, is also being effectively utilised by the three port commands to achieve higher productivity ahead of the other commands of the NCS with a view to assisting the Customs in its efforts to surpass the 2024 revenue collection and meeting its 2025 target.
COTER further stated, “The Apapa, Tin Can and Onne Area Commands have continued to record groundbreaking feats in the history of the almost one and a half century old Nigeria Customs Service due to the reforms embarked upon by the President Bola Tinubu-led administration and the Controller General of the NCS, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi. We commend the present administration for these landmark achievements and call for further reforms to enhance revenue generation by the various collecting agencies. This, indeed, is highly commendable.
“It is apt at this juncture to be specific on some of the revenue collection feats already recorded by the Apapa Area Command of the NCS. In the third quarter of 2024, the Apapa Port Command reported a revenue collection of N1.61trillion. This figure surpassed the N1.17trillion revenue collected in 2023. This feat can be attributed to diligence and integrity as well as the command’s commitment to collaborating with stakeholders to enhance revenue collection and check smuggling. In the first quarter of 2025, the same command generated a whopping N1.75trillion, surpassing its target by N106.5billion. This is a significant milestone and monumental achievement recorded even before the completion of the first half of 2025. This is a clear indication that the Command is set to surpass the N2.3trillion revenue collected before the end of December 2024.
“Similarly, the Tin Can Island Port collected a total revenue of N1trillion within the same period while Onne generated about N600billion.
“This remarkable feat boldly underscores the unrelenting efforts of these Commands to continue to boost revenue generation and enhance trade facilitation. These proactive strategies and efficient operations of the Commands have continued to yield impressive results, which have positioned them as major contributors to the nation’s economic growth.
“COTER has observed that the above feat was achieved through the efforts made by the Commands to increase revenue through thorough inspections and proactive interventions, including timely issuance of demand notices. Their strict adherence to the NCS Comptroller-General’s zero tolerance for smuggling has also gone a long way in assisting the Commands in maintaining their leadership positions in the collection of revenue. Furthermore, their continuous engagement with other security agencies and stakeholders, and the diligent discharge of duties by the officers and men, have ensured their high level of compliance and drastically reduced smuggling in the area through effective cargo monitoring, intelligence gathering and sharing, profiling of port users, stakeholders’ sensitisation and on the job training and retraining of officers and men.”
It further stated that the constant vigilance exhibited by Customs officers and men attached to the port commands has been of great assistance to the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in apprehending and seizing falsely declared and unwholesome pharmaceutical and controlled products.
The port commands, it added have also been helping the nation’s security agencies to check the smuggling of illicit arms, ammunition and other dangerous weapons into the country by unscrupulous elements.
“No wonder, in 2024, at the Comptroller-General of Customs Award night, the Apapa Command carted away several awards for revenue collection, including the Customs Comptroller-General Award of Excellence,” the statement further said.
The CSOs therefore recommended that the “performing controllers” in charge of the three topmost revenue collection Commands at the nation’s major seaports be considered for conferment with National Awards by President Tinubu “to boost their morale in the task ahead of them.”
The coalition also called on the leadership of the Nigeria Customs Service “to institute a study of Onne, Tincan Island and Apapa Area Commands, with a view to understanding the innovations in their operations, particularly Apapa which have seen the Command almost doubling its revenue target and collection.
“These innovations should then be replicated in Customs Commands all over the country for improved revenue generation and collection. It is our well considered opinion that the Area Comptrollers in charge of these performing commands should not only be encouraged, but also protected against any possible threats to their lives by those who may be averse to their effective, efficient and productive leadership style.”
