THE NIGERIA Customs Service (NCS) recorded N7.28 trillion in revenue in 2025, surpassing its N6.58 trillion target; NCS’s Comptroller-General (C-G), Bashir Adeniyi, disclosed this at the celebration of the 2026 World Customs Day themed protecting society through vigilance and commitment.
The service also unveiled the Time Release Study (TRS) conducted at the Tincan Island Port in 2024 with support from the World Customs Organisation (WCO).
Adeniyi said the revenue exceeded the 2025 target by N697 billion, representing over 10 per cent growth.
He linked the growth to reforms in the sector and the commitment of the NCS personnel in the discharge of their duties.
“Compared to 2024 collections, total revenue rose from N6.1 trillion to N7.28 trillion, an increase of approximately N1.18 trillion, or about 19 percent year on-year.
“We present these figures not as self-congratulation, but as evidence that reform is yielding tangible outcomes.
“The gains came not from arbitrary enforcement or the burdening of legitimate traders, but from improved compliance, better data use, digital tools, and disciplined enforcement.
“More importantly, this performance was achieved while deepening collaboration with the private sector and upholding facilitation commitments,” he said.
Unveiling the TRS, he described it as a major step towards making Nigeria’s trade gateways secure, efficient, predictable and globally competitive.
Adeniyi said that a modern customs administration must be able to detect high-risk consignments without suffocating lawful trade.
According to him, the unveiling of TRS signals NCS’s commitment to move from opinion-driven reforms to evidence-based reforms and from complaints-driven policy to data-driven policy.
He said the study at Tincan Island Port showed that Nigeria had the capacity to clear goods quickly, however, excessive idle periods resulting from fragmented scheduling, manual documentation, and poor coordination unnecessarily prolongs clearance times and erode competitiveness.
“We now have validated clearance timelines covering more than 600 declarations, combining manual timestamps and platform data.
“We now know with precision how long it takes from booking for examination to physical gate exit, and where bottlenecks concentrate.
“Armed with such evidence, we are now able to say: the fastest way to protect Nigerian traders and our economy is both through border security and procedural reform.
“The TRS also demonstrates another truth, customs cannot reform the ports alone. Effective trade facilitation requires terminal operators, shipping lines, partner government agencies, truckers, brokers, banks, and port authorities to work in a synchronised ecosystem rather than parallel silos.
“We Will therefore be institutionalising the TRS as a regular diagnostic tool, not as a one-off exercise. Our intention is to monitor, to learn and to reform Continuously over future cycles,” he said.
In her keynote address, the Minister of State for Finance, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, described the TRS as a strategic policy instrument that enables government to measure performance and identify bottlenecks.
Uzoka-Anite said TRS also would guide in Nigeria’s determination to reduce transaction cost and enhance transparency across its trade ecosystem.
She said that the successful implementation of the TRS would align with the Federal Government’s commitment of facilitating ease of doing business.
She added that it aimed to strengthen Nigeria competitiveness under AfCFTA and reinforces its commitment to predictable efficient trade procedures.
She assured stakeholders of reforms that strengthen institutional capacity, promote transparency and modernise border management.
“The insights generated from the TRS, will inform future policy action, infrastructure investment, and operational improvement across our ports and border stations,” She said.
In his goodwill message, Ian Saunders, Secretary-General of the WCO, said the TRS provides an opportunity to advance evidence-based policymaking by identifying areas for improvement and guiding appropriate strategies. (NAN)
