Nigeria Customs, ICPC and the Audit of Conscience
By Abdulsalam Mahmud,
There is something quietly powerful about a government agency asking to be examined. In a country where silence often follows suspicion and institutions are quick to retreat behind officialdom, this moment feels different.
It is not every day that an agency says: come in, inspect us, and help us do better. But that is exactly what the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) did when it recently opened its doors to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Not out of obligation, but from a desire to build something cleaner and more transparent. At a time when public trust is hard-earned and easily lost, that step alone speaks louder than words.
What is unfolding is not just a bureaucratic engagement or routine assessment. It is a partnership that challenges how accountability is understood and practiced. It is an effort to move integrity away from rhetoric and into the rhythm of daily institutional life.
Customs is not just making promises. It is stepping forward to be held accountable. Across the country, conversations around corruption often stall at blame and denial. But here, something different is taking shape. A quiet shift led by reformers who know that real change begins within.
And for an agency like Customs—at the heart of Nigeria’s revenue and trade—the cost of compromise is simply too high. So, on a calm morning on June 18 in Abuja, the Nigeria Customs welcomed a high-level ICPC delegation to its headquarters.
What followed was not ceremony, but substance—a working meeting aimed at testing the ethical foundations of one of Nigeria’s most crucial agencies. Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs, Isah Umar, who stood in for Comptroller-General Adewale Adeniyi, made it clear that this was more than a compliance exercise.
“This is an important oversight process to evaluate ethics and integrity across government agencies,” he said. “For us in Customs, it aligns with our reforms to strengthen professionalism, accountability, and service delivery.”
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Umar said the Service had prepared thoroughly for the assessment. “We have reviewed all the requirements and put forward all relevant documentation. We welcome the ICPC’s review and remain open to collaboration that helps us grow.”
At the core of this engagement are two tools from the ICPC—the Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard and the ACTU Effectiveness Index. Far from punitive, they are meant to track how well institutions like Customs are building ethical cultures and closing gaps where misconduct can fester.
ICPC’s team lead, Umar Sani, explained that the scorecard measures four key areas: management structure, financial systems, administrative processes, and how well the internal Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit is working.
And Customs has not been idle. According to Comptroller Emmanuel Oshoba of the Customs Intelligence Unit and Comptroller Hannel Hadison of Special Duties, ACTU units are fully in place across Customs formations. Their officers are not just ticking boxes.
They are having honest conversations about ethics, raising red flags when needed, and helping to reinforce a culture of openness. For the ICPC, this is part of a larger mission to prevent corruption before it starts. And in Customs, they seem to have found a committed ally.
This may not make front-page headlines, but it is exactly how institutions earn back trust. Through the slow, steady work of opening up, asking questions, and being willing to hear uncomfortable truths. Through partnerships that say: let us be better, together.
If this works, it could offer something rare in the public sector—a living model of accountability in action. One where oversight is welcomed, not feared. Where transparency is part of the structure, not an afterthought. Where doing the right thing is not just a slogan, but a shared habit.
And most of all, it reminds us that integrity is not a destination. It is a discipline. One that must be renewed every day, by every officer, in every agency, in every decision.
*Mahmud, Deputy Editor of PRNigeria, can be reached at: [email protected].*
