The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Wednesday, urged the Senate Committee on Customs to shift its oversight questions in line with the transformation from manual systems to the current modernization or data driven regime of the organization.
The Comptroller -General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi made the call in Abuja at the Customs retreat for the Senate Committee on Customs with theme: ‘Legislative Oversight in the Context of Nigeria Customs Service Modernization and Reforms.’
He recalled that the question used to be about a particular consignment, clearance and decision, noting that it has shifted to what the rule says and how it is applied in line with database valuation.
His words: ‘As Customs administration becomes more automated, the character of effective oversight changes. When systems were manual, the natural question to ask a Comptroller-General was about a particular consignment, a
particular clearance, a particular decision.
‘In a modernised administration, that is no longer where the real questions lie. The consequential questions become questions about the rules themselves how the risk engine is calibrated, what proportion of declarations it selects for examination, whether the valuation database is current, how quickly the system releases compliant cargo, and whether the exemptions written into our laws are costing more than they deliver.’
He described the above interrogation as harder questions that ask about design rather than the incident.
Adeniyi stressed that they are the questions that move the national
needle, noting that a Committee that asks them will exercise more influence over trade outcomes than the one that does not.
According to him, the most valuable thing the Service can offer the
oversight is not access to individual decisions but access to the data and the design.
He added, ‘That is what we are opening to you over these 2 days, and what I am inviting you to hold us to afterwards. Ask us what the system did and why. We will answer.’
The Customs boss said his call for questions in line with the modernisation does not mean the Senate should relax its oversight on the Customs. He said it is a call for the lawmakers to be on the same page with the current system.
Adeniyi revealed that in 2025 the
Service collected N7.277 trillion, exceeding its target by 10.24 per cent.
He also said between January and May of this year the NCS collected N3.35 trillion.
According to him, the figures are
not the figures of an administration in difficulty.
He explained that revenue
growth in a period of currency adjustment can flatter an administration that has done very little.
Adeniyi however said what matters is whether the growth rests on better
systems or on favourable arithmetic.
Continuing, he said ‘I put it to you that ours rests on systems, and the purpose of this retreat is to let you examine that claim rather than accept it from me.’