The Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi has said that the success of the Authorised Economic Operator programme implemented by the Nigeria Customs Service relies on cooperation from stakeholders, particularly the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
In this interview with journalists shortly after he received the prestigious Iconic Maritime Personality Award, Adeniyi highlighted some of his administration’s plan for the Service in 2025 and commitment to implementing governments policies.
He also speaks on the recent suspension of the 4% FOB levy, justification for the charge and ongoing efforts to address stakeholders concern.
Shulammite Olowofoyeku was there for Maritime Today Online.
Excerpts:
What are your key priorities for the NCS in 2025 and what should stakeholders expect?
In 2025, there are lots of challenges ahead of us. We ended 2024 well. Is that the best we can do? I would say no. There are still a lot of opportunities for us in an economy that is still crying for balance or a kind of sanity, you know, in terms of the implementation of the various policies.
Fuel subsidy removal, deregulation of the oil industry, deregulation of the currency exchange have thrown some challenges for us. It is the right way to go there is no doubt about it and we have to live with the consequences.
So gradually, we are beginning to restore some sanity in the environment of policy formulation and also in the areas of policy implementation where we play. So I would say that in 2025 we will continue the same trajectory that we were in 2024, ensuring that duty collection is done in an environment where there is ease, where we facilitate trade and in an environment where we can reduce the cost and the time it takes to do business. So these are some of the things that we are working around. The Authorised Economic Operator ( AEO), one of the trade facilitation tools will be a game-changer.
Advanced Ruling has started and we hope that it will really take its root in the course of the year. We’re going to release the result of the Time Release Study that we conducted in 2024 and that study will show us what are those areas where we have delays in the clearance process.
What are the likely solutions? Is it a kind of process recalibration? Is it something that we have to go to the National Assembly to amend our laws? Is it something that we’re just going to bring out circulars for implementations among the various agencies? Is it something that we bring other agencies of government together? For example, if Single Windows starts in 2025, we hope that we’re going to bridge a number of gaps in the clearance process. So, I’m so optimistic that in 2025 we’ll take the challenges as they come and, by the grace of God, it will be a better year for us.
Penultimate week, the NCS announced the suspension of the 4% Free-On-Board (FOB) charge on import. What is the next line of action?
The statement that we issued was very clear on that. The 4% FOB is not a new pronouncement. It’s not a new law issued by the Nigeria Customs Service. It’s a provision of an Act which has been in existence since 2023 and we were under a regime of service provision offered by a service provider as of 2023. By 2024, we were exiting that contractual arrangement and we felt that would be a time for us to begin the implementation of the 4% FOB.
It’s not a new levy. The cost of collection as a funding system has been with us for over a decade. 7% cost of collection to fund Nigeria Customs. It’s not a new thing. But the law in the 2023 Act now says it should be 4% of FOB. That is what we were implementing.
Of course, we also believe that it will require more stakeholder consultation and we have started and the Minister is leading the charge to ensure that we get all stakeholders on board and to address the remaining issues left by the service provider- Webb Fontaine. All the obligations arising from that contract have been met.
So, we’re starting on a clean slate. We’ve come up with a new legacy program for clearance system in our ports. So, it’s more or less a clean slate. All the stakeholders that are involved are going to be consulted. We are going to have this discussion with them.
It’s not going to be a new law because there is a law already in place. The law charges us to implement modernization programs. The law charges us to do single window. It charges us to do AEO and all of that. And the law knows that this is going to be implemented through a sustainable funding system which was absent in the 7% cost of collection. This is what the new law is bringing up. So, we will do our consultations and we will begin implementation.
Is it possible that we see perhaps a reduction in the 4% FOB charge, say 2% or 3%?
It means that the law has to be amended. I mean if the law says 4% and you want us to implement something different, then that section of the law would have to undergo an amendment.
To what extent are we going to see inter-agency collaboration especially this year?
Collaboration is very important and I’m very deliberate and intentional about collaboration because I believe that working with other agencies of government we can achieve more than when we go this route alone.
Everything that we do we can do them better when we collaborate. I had a very extensive and robust discussion with the NPA because implementation of the Authorised Economic Operator, for example, depends on the level of cooperation and buy-in that we get from NPA. For example. If you want to rid our ports of bad drugs we’ll have to collaborate with NAFDAC and all of that.
So, NPA’s role is crucial in providing
dedicated facilities for AEO cargo aggregation, streamlined processes,
and priority treatment for certified traders. This includes establishing
dedicated facilities for the aggregation of AEO cargoes and implementing streamlined processes that align with international best practices. This high-level collaboration between the Nigeria Customs Service and port authorities, supported by clear presidential directives and ministerial guidance, is essential in ensuring a seamless experience across all supply chain touchpoints.
So, collaboration is important. The World Customs Organization (WCO) encourages us to do it and that’s why it is a cardinal point for me to put it in my agenda.
Could you tell us more about the B’Odogwu initiative?
B’Odogwu is a legacy system just like we had NICIS, just like we had ASYCUDA ++ just like we had ASYCUDA 2.7 to clear goods we now have B’Odogwu. The beauty of B’Odogwu is that it’s an indigenous system. It was initiated and developed by Nigerians.
Nigeria Customs working with our stakeholders noting the gap that existed in NICIS 1, in NICIS 2 and in ASYCUDA we came up with B’Odogwu in terms of the robustness, in terms of how it can interface with other agencies of government. So, by the grace of God, it has come to stay.
It can only undergo periodic review depending on the dynamics of international trade to ensure that we continue to improve on and make it more robust, make it more resilient, ensure that it does not get hacked and all of that. So, it is here to stay.
