The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has begun moving away from extensive physical intervention at the ports towards a Post-Clearance Audit (PCA) regime to reduce cargo delays, improve trade compliance and strengthen revenue collection.
The shift comes as the service targets N11.074 trillion revenue in 2026.
Comptroller-General of Customs, Dr Bashir Adeniyi, disclosed this in Lagos at the NCS Post-Clearance Audit Sensitisation Programme, themed: ‘Post Clearance Audit (PCA) Reform for Greater Compliance, Transparency and Revenue Protection.’
Adeniyi said the transition from physical intervention at ports to audit-based controls after cargo release was necessary to balance the Federal Government’s revenue objectives with efforts to reduce the cost, delays and friction associated with doing business.
He said the NCS had collected N4.3 trillion as of June, representing progress towards its N11.074 trillion target for the year.
The Customs chief explained that physical examination of containers alone could not generate revenue on the scale required, stressing the need for the service to identify consignments requiring intervention while allowing compliant traders to move their goods with minimal disruption.
According to him, PCA would enable Customs to rely on traders’ declarations during the clearance process and subsequently verify the accuracy of such declarations through detailed examination of records after the goods had been released.
‘Containers have to move off the quays or the wharf. If every consignment must be opened at the ports before it is released, then revenue assurance and trade facilitation will pull in different directions,’ he said.
Adeniyi said the PCA regime was consistent with the Revised Kyoto Convention and Article 7.5 of the World Trade Organisation’s Trade Facilitation Agreement, to which Nigeria is a party.
He disclosed that Nigeria’s implementation commitment under the agreement currently stood at 94.1 per cent on a timetable extending to 2029.
The Comptroller-General also noted that the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023 provided the legal foundation for the service to verify compliance after goods had been released, adding that the approach was in line with international customs standards.
Adeniyi cited the NCS Time Release Study conducted at Tin Can Island Port as evidence that cargo clearance delays were not necessarily caused by physical examination.
He said the study, which covered 601 import declarations and involved shipping lines, terminal operators, the Nigerian Ports Authority, customs agents, banks and other stakeholders, found that containers spent an average of about five days at the port before exiting.
According to him, physical examination itself took only a matter of hours, while for 98.7 per cent of consignments, the period between booking for examination and physical exit averaged close to four days.
He attributed the prolonged clearance period largely to manual processes, fragmented inter-agency coordination and waiting time.
Adeniyi said the PCA regime would enable Customs to reduce the number of consignments subjected to intervention at the ports by verifying compliance after release.
He added that findings from post-clearance audits would be fed into the service’s risk-management system, enabling Customs to improve its targeting of consignments and reduce unnecessary interventions against compliant businesses.
The Customs chief, however, acknowledged concerns raised by stakeholders over the PCA process, particularly the procedure for appealing audit findings.
He assured members of the trading community that the service was willing to review its standard operating procedures where necessary and maintain continuous engagement with stakeholders.
Adeniyi added that the sensitisation programme would be extended to other locations, including Onitsha and Port Harcourt.
He urged importers and other operators to maintain accurate records, make truthful declarations and voluntarily disclose errors before they became liabilities.