Adeniyi, Customs Comptroller-General of Customs, calls for increased vigilance on arms smuggling ahead of 2027 Polls

…seeks review of N1.68trn import duty concessions granted in 2024

Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, has called for the use of intelligence, data and joint patrols of international neighbours as a more effective way to break smuggling activities rather than sealing borders.

The customs boss, who spoke on Tuesday at the third Distinguished Personality Lecture of the TETFund Centre of Excellence in Security Management, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, where he delivered a lecture titled, “Why Customs Matters: Revenue, Security and Nationhood in a Borderless World,” said that as the 2027 elections draw nearer, he called for increased vigilance, disclosing that it handed over 1, 599 firearms seized between 2018 and 2024 to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons.

“On 21 June 2024, our officers intercepted 844 rifles and 112,500 rounds of ammunition at a bonded terminal in Onne. They came in a 40-foot container from Türkiye, hidden among dolls, furniture and plumbing fittings. In February 2025, we handed over 1,599 firearms seized between 2018 and 2024 to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons. A pattern emerges: the large consignments came by sea, in containers, dismantled or hidden among household goods. This is security performed upstream. Every rifle stopped at the quay is a rifle that never reaches a forest camp, a kidnapping gang or a polling unit. As the 2027 general elections approach, that vigilance matters even more.”

The CGS maintained that the revenue which customs generates helps the government to fulfil its social contract with the people, adding that “a nation that cannot fund itself cannot govern itself”
“Revenue, then, is the material base of the social contract and not just money. A nation that cannot fund itself cannot govern itself. That is the first reason Customs matters. The land border closure of August 2019 to December 2020 curbed some smuggling, but field research published this year found that the closure did not destroy the smuggling networks; it reorganised them. The lesson is that a nation is protected by intelligent control of its border, not by sealing it. Closure is a blunt instrument, while intelligence, data and joint patrols with our neighbours are sharper ones.”

He noted that smugglers cheat the entire country and its people of the revenue that governments need to build primary schools, health care facilities and construct rural roads.

According to him, “Customs revenue matters more in developing economies than in rich ones. In 2023, Africa’s average tax-to-GDP ratio was 16.1 per cent, against 33.9 per cent in the OECD.

Large informal sectors make income tax hard to collect. Imports, by contrast, pass through a few points we can watch: seaports, airports and border posts. This is why trade integration must be pursued with our eyes open, since many countries that cut trade taxes never replaced the lost revenue. It is also why waivers deserve scrutiny. Import concessions were worth about ₦1.68 trillion in 2024, and in August I called for a review of the waiver regime alongside the Customs Act.”

Adeniyi, who described the revenue target for “2026 (₦11.07 trillion) as demanding, added that the Customs will “pursue the target through compliance, data and facilitation, not through harassment at the ports, because a target met by choking trade would be a false victory.”

Adeniyi, however, said that there was a need to review the import duty concessions granted in 2024, saying that poorly targeted waivers could undermine government revenue, and that the import duty concessions valued at N1.68 trillion should be reviewed.

According to him, this should be done at a time when the Federal Government is seeking to strengthen public finances and expand funding for essential services. Then are the concessions achieving their intended economic objectives or unnecessarily depriving the government of revenue?.

“Customs revenue matters more in developing economies than in rich ones. In 2023, Africa’s average tax-to-GDP ratio was 16.1 per cent, against 33.9 per cent in the OECD. Large informal sectors make income tax hard to collect. Imports, by contrast, pass through a few points we can watch: seaports, airports and border posts. This is why trade integration must be pursued with our eyes open, since many countries that cut trade taxes never replaced the lost revenue. It is also why waivers deserve scrutiny. Import concessions were worth about ₦1.68 trillion in 2024, and in August I called for a review of the waiver regime alongside the Customs Act.

The review, Adeniyi therefore noted, should form part of a broader effort to strengthen revenue collection through improved compliance, digitalisation, intelligence-led enforcement and more transparent trade procedures.

He further stated the need to address illicit financial flows and trade misinvoicing, through which importers and exporters manipulate the declared value or description of goods to evade taxes, duties and other financial obligations, saying such practices weakened the country’s revenue base and undermined the integrity of its trade system.

On wildlife trafficking, he cited the seizure of 3.76 tonnes of pangolin scales in Lagos in April 2025, representing at least 1,900 animals, and said enforcement operations since 2021 had led to seizures of more than 25 tonnes of pangolin scales and over one tonne of ivory, with 12 convictions secured.

He also highlighted fuel smuggling, drug trafficking and the illegal movement of food commodities as activities that threatened public safety, economic stability and government revenue.

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He, however, revealed that the Service generated N7.28 trillion in 2025, exceeding its target of N6.58 trillion, while collections reached approximately N4.03 trillion in the first half of 2026 against an annual target of N11.07 trillion, attributing the improvement to stronger compliance, improved valuation, digital systems and enforcement.

He said the Service was determined to meet its 2026 target by reducing revenue leakages rather than obstructing legitimate trade.

“The figures demonstrated the growing importance of Customs to Nigeria’s public finances and the need to close revenue leakages without placing unnecessary burdens on legitimate businesses.

“We will pursue the target through compliance, data and facilitation, not through harassment at the ports, because a target met by choking trade would be a false victory,” he said

While saying that Customs revenue was not merely a federal government resource, he posited that import duties contributed to the Federation Account and were distributed among the three tiers of government.

The Federal Government receives 52.68 per cent, states 26.72 per cent and local governments 20.60 per cent.

He added that, under the new tax laws, 90 per cent of value-added tax collected on imports was allocated to states and local governments. “So when a smuggler evades duty, he does not cheat an abstraction called government. He cheats a pupil, a nurse and a farmer.

Noting that Customs had a critical role to play in closing the gap by improving the accuracy of declarations, strengthening risk assessment and ensuring that eligible transactions were properly assessed, Adeniyi said the Service was deploying digital platforms and data analytics to improve the assessment of imports, detect suspicious declarations and reduce delays at the ports.

He disclosed that the B’Odogwu cargo-processing platform handled approximately 16,000 entries and generated N120 billion in revenue in its first three months at the Port and Terminal Multi-Services Limited Command.

The National Single Window, which went live on March 27, 2026, he said, was intended to connect trade-related government processes and reduce duplication in documentation.

“A study conducted at Tin Can Island Port showed that cargo release took almost five days on average, with more than 90 per cent of the time spent waiting.”

The Service, he said, was working towards reducing cargo clearance to 24 hours in the long term, with an interim target of two days and a plan to rely on scanning rather than physical examination for 99 per cent of cargo.

The Comptroller-General added that 51 companies certified under the Authorised Economic Operator programme had reduced their clearance time from 168 hours to 41 hours, while demurrage costs fell by approximately 90 per cent.

According to him, the improvements showed that revenue collection and trade facilitation could reinforce each other when procedures were efficient and compliance was properly managed.

He, however, proposed a structured partnership with the University of Ibadan’s Centre of Excellence in Security Management to improve research on border economies, trade compliance and illicit financial flows.

His proposals included a Border Economies Research Partnership focusing on locations such as Idiroko, Seme, Jibia and Illela; Customs Data and Analytics Fellowships; and an Illicit Trade Observatory to track trafficking in firearms, drugs, counterfeit medicines, wildlife products and fuel.

He also called for independent academic evaluations of the Customs Act 2023, import duty waivers, the Authorised Economic Operator programme and the National Single Window.

Benjamin Aluko, Professor and the Director of the TETFund Centre of Excellence in Security Management, said the Centre was ready to support Customs through research, professional education and interdisciplinary collaboration, adding that the centre was developing a curriculum for senior Customs officers with support from the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies and specialists in economics, accounting, sociology, business administration, psychology and other disciplines.

He disclosed that the Centre’s master’s programme in Security Management began in the 2024/2025 academic session with approximately 40 students, largely from security agencies, including Customs. Its doctoral programme is expected to admit its first cohort in the next academic session.

“Our mandate is to strengthen security management through research, professional training and the development of effective early-warning systems. We believe that collaboration between academia and security agencies is essential to developing practical solutions to Nigeria’s security challenges.”

“The proposed Customs training curriculum will equip senior officers with multidisciplinary knowledge to address emerging security threats. Our master’s programme has commenced, and we look forward to launching the PhD programme in the next academic session.”

He stated that the lecture is “one of the strategies to strengthen the accomplishment of the mandate of our Centre in particular and to deepen town and gown collaboration towards solving security related issues in our society in general. ”

Aluko noted that the lecture is expected to provide “raw materials and evidence-based data that will drive robust intellectual engagement in security management and peace studies in particular and in social sciences in general”

He therefore appealed to Adeniyi to provide a 30-seater bus for student field trips and support the establishment of a research and training facility proposed to be named the Bashir Adewale Adeniyi Research and Training Hub

“We appeal for support to acquire a 30-seater Coaster bus to facilitate students’ field research and practical learning. A dedicated research and training hub will strengthen our capacity to conduct research and provide specialised training for security professionals,”

The lecturer featured a public presentation of a 54-chapter book titled: Perspectives on Security Management in Nigeria, edited by Isaac Olawale Albert, Benjamin Adeniran Aluko, both professors, and Amb. Lt. Tukur Yusufu Buratai. We are also presenting our journal, Ibadan Security Review, Volume 1, Number 1, May 2026, which contains 10 Chapters.