The Senate Committee on Customs and Excise has backed the ongoing reforms at the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), commending Comptroller-General Adewale Adeniyi for accelerating the Service’s technology-driven modernisation.
The committee gave the endorsement recently during a two-day retreat with the NCS in Abuja, which included a tour of the Customs House in Maitama to assess ongoing reforms and the implementation of the Nigeria Customs Service Act.
Chairman of the committee, Senator Isah Jibrin, said the tour enabled lawmakers to see the impact of the reforms firsthand, particularly in technology deployment, infrastructure and operational efficiency.
‘We have heard about these reforms from afar, but today we have seen them ourselves. The transformation taking place in the NCS is remarkable,’ Jibrin said.
He said the visit also provided lawmakers with greater insight into how public funds allocated to the Service were being utilised, particularly capital expenditure.
According to him, the investments witnessed demonstrated that government funds were being deployed to strengthen Customs operations, improve trade facilitation and boost revenue generation.
The endorsement comes as the NCS faces growing expectations to raise revenue while reducing delays and costs associated with cargo clearance.
Adeniyi said technology was at the centre of the Service’s modernisation programme, with digital solutions now covering personnel administration and increasingly its core operational functions.
‘Technology helps us to work faster and more efficiently,’ he said, adding that the Service would continue expanding digitalisation across its operations.
He said the NCS was also deploying geospatial intelligence, digital surveillance and virtual shooting simulators to strengthen enforcement and border management.
Adeniyi also listed the Authorised Economic Operator Programme, Advance Ruling, Time Release Study and scanner deployment among key reforms aimed at improving trade facilitation and making Customs processes more predictable.
For importers, exporters and other trade operators, greater automation could reduce human intervention, improve cargo visibility and enable Customs to focus enforcement on high-risk consignments.