Customs Eyes $250bn in Modernisation Challenge, Trains 1,800 Officers on AI
By Tahir Ahmad,
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is projecting a staggering $250 billion in cumulative income over the subsequent 20 years from its flagship E-Customs Modernisation Challenge—a $3.2 billion initiative that marks a radical shift from guide cargo dealing with to a completely digital system.
Comptroller-Normal of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this in an upcoming State Home documentary marking President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s second yr in workplace.
The assertion was launched by the Particular Adviser to the President on Data and Technique, Bayo Onanuga.
In response to Adeniyi, the digital transformation is on the coronary heart of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and is already yielding tangible outcomes.
The Service recorded an unprecedented ₦1.3 trillion in income within the first quarter of 2025 alone—greater than double the ₦600 billion collected throughout the identical interval in 2023.
“This isn’t as a consequence of a rise in import volumes. Imports have truly declined as a consequence of foreign exchange constraints. What has modified is effectivity, transparency, and enforcement,” the CG stated.
Adeniyi stated the E-Customs Modernisation Challenge will overhaul cargo processing, surveillance, and fee methods throughout ports and borders.
When totally deployed, the digital system is predicted to unlock huge new income streams and plug systemic leakages which have traditionally drained the nation’s funds.
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In a transfer to additional deepen commerce facilitation, the Nigeria Customs is implementing the Authorised Financial Operator (AEO) programme, which fast-tracks clearance for compliant importers. Clearance timelines at Apapa and Tin Can ports have already been decreased from 21 days to 7–10 days for compliant merchants.
On enforcement, the NCS has recovered over ₦64 billion from under-assessed and undervalued imports previously 9 months and dismantled smuggling rings working at a number of land borders, together with Seme, Idiroko, Katsina, and Sokoto.
“We’re not simply chasing smugglers within the bush. We’re utilizing knowledge, surveillance drones, and intelligence to behave in real-time,” Adeniyi stated.
Joint patrols with the Nigerian Military, DSS, and Police have additional boosted compliance at vital border factors.
To help export development, the NCS has launched fast-track lanes for agro-exports and partnered with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC). In 2024 alone, Nigeria exported over ₦340 billion value of stable minerals and agricultural merchandise—a 38% enhance from the earlier yr.
As a part of its inner reforms, greater than 1,800 Customs officers have obtained specialised coaching in synthetic intelligence, knowledge analytics, and fashionable danger profiling. That is a part of a strategic shift towards changing into an intelligence-led company in keeping with international requirements.
“Customs is not nearly bodily inspections. We’re remodeling right into a data-driven and tech-powered company,” the CG added.
Adeniyi reaffirmed that President Tinubu’s directive stays clear: block leakages, simplify commerce, and increase income with out inserting further burdens on Nigerians. “The outcomes are starting to talk for themselves,” he stated.
