FEATURE: Inside Nigeria Customs’ Big Bang in 2025
The air was thick with anticipation at the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. Reporters huddled shoulder to shoulder, cameras blinked rapidly, and pens hovered above notepads.
But when Comptroller-General Bashir Adewale Adeniyi walked in, the room did not merely await a routine Nigeria Customs Service’s quarterly update – the first in 2025.
It braced for a message—a declaration. And what followed was not just a quarterly scorecard; it was a portrait of an agency finding its voice, asserting its place, and proving its mettle.
Breaking Trillion: More Than Just Numbers
In the heart of his briefing, CGC Adeniyi delivered the headline: ₦1.75 trillion. That was the Customs Service’s revenue haul for the first three months of 2025.
A staggering figure—but it was the tone behind the announcement that made it sing. This was not accidental progress. This was a crescendo built on meticulous reform, tech-enhanced surveillance, and a deeper sense of responsibility to Nigeria’s fragile economy.
Across seaports, airports, and land borders—from Tin Can to Katsina—Customs formations did not just perform; they delivered with discipline. New valuation protocols, stricter post-clearance audits, and better terminal oversight ensured that every naira collected was rooted in credibility.
Fuel Smuggling: Cracking the Code of Greed
At the core of the Q&A session, Adeniyi leaned into one of Nigeria’s longest-running nightmares: fuel smuggling. “What is the driver?” he posed, eyes scanning the room. And then, with the clarity of someone who had walked the terrain, he answered himself: “Price differentials.”
With petrol still selling between ₦850–₦900 locally, and fetching nearly double in Cameroon and Niger Republic, smuggling is not just tempting—it is inevitable.
But Customs is no longer in denial.
In response, Operation Whirlwind was born. Initially framed as a quick intervention, it has now evolved into a formidable, intelligence-driven crackdown.
“We have seen very good results,” Adeniyi said, his voice calm but confident. Not only have smugglers been intercepted, but the operation has exposed how these economic saboteurs adapt—and how Customs must always stay one step ahead.
Cashing Criminals: The Currency Clamps Down
Beyond fuel, Customs cast its net wide—catching not just contraband, but currencies too. The first quarter saw seizures of $1.26 million, €117,660, and 135,900 Saudi Riyals at Nigeria’s gateways.
But again, the real victory was not just in the amount, but in the aftermath: two convictions already secured and a third in progress.
“We are not just seizing money. We are building credibility,” the CGC said. The broader ambition? Get Nigeria off the grey list of countries with weak currency controls.
It is a subtle battle—but one Customs is waging with clarity and coordination alongside sister agencies.
Seizures and Signals: The Smugglers’ Reckoning
In three months, Customs recorded 298 seizures, valued at ₦7.69 billion in Duty Paid Value. That marked a 78% leap from the previous quarter—clear evidence of intensified enforcement.
Read Also:
While this figure dipped slightly compared to Q1 of 2024, the CGC interpreted it differently: improved stakeholder compliance and rising deterrence.
Rice smuggling led the chart, with 135,000 bags seized. Petroleum product smuggling persisted. But perhaps the most jarring statistics came from drug and wildlife interceptions—₦730 million in narcotics and a jaw-dropping ₦5.65 billion in illegal wildlife products.
These are no longer fringe crimes; they are organized, profitable, and transnational. And Customs is now treating them as such. Every seizure—whether textiles or tiger parts—tells the story of a Customs Service not just chasing smugglers but outthinking them.
Trade Wars Elsewhere, Calm at Home
While global trade partners tighten tariffs and issue retaliatory threats, Nigeria has chosen caution over confrontation. “Consultations are ongoing,” the CGC said, referring to backroom engagements led by the Ministry of Trade.
Unlike countries that panic, Nigeria prefers to lead—with diplomacy, data, and regional unity as its tools. As ECOWAS chair, Nigeria is carefully weighing policy reactions, ensuring its response does not hurt more than it helps.
It is a sign that Customs, too, is growing not just in force—but in finesse.
AfCFTA: Africa, Unlocked
If there was one moment the CGC’s voice lifted with unguarded enthusiasm, it was on the topic of AfCFTA. The vision? One billion people. One continent. One market. And Nigeria Customs wants in—not as an observer, but as a key player.
The launch of the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) scheme, the piloting of the SIGMAT digital interface with Benin Republic, and the new AfreximBank-backed payment system all point in one direction: Nigeria wants to own African trade, not chase it.
“We are ready,” Adeniyi declared. And for the first time in a long time, it did not sound like a wish. It sounded like a plan.
Wrestling Exchange Rates and Policy Potholes
But not everything in Q1 was a straight road. Customs wrestled with 62 exchange rate changes, creating unpredictability for traders and officers alike. With rates swinging between ₦1,477 and ₦1,569 per dollar, valuation became a moving target.
Then there was the four percent FOB policy—a good idea rolled out too fast, suspended just as fast. And in March, a new headache emerged: a 14% reciprocal tariff from the United States on Nigerian exports.
“It has implications,” the CGC admitted, hinting at policy tweaks in the works.
A New Kind of Customs is Emerging
In the end, what the first quarter of 2025 revealed was not just progress, but transformation. The Customs Service is shedding its old skin. It is more tactical, more transparent, and more tenacious.
Whether intercepting fuel in Adamawa, drugs in Lagos, or wildlife in Delta, it is operating like an agency that knows it matters.
As CGC Adeniyi aptly put it, “Customs is not just a revenue agency.” No, it is becoming much more than that. A security force. A trade strategist. A national institution.
And if this first quarter is a sign of what lies ahead, then 2025 may be remembered not as just another year—but the year Nigeria Customs found its fire.
Tahir Ahmad is a serving corps member with PRNigeria Centre, Abuja. He can be reached via: [email protected].
