Nigeria Customs Service

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Nigeria Customs Service
Agency overview
Formed1891;134 years ago (1891)
Jurisdiction Federal Ministry of Finance (Nigeria)
HeadquartersP.M.B. 26,
Abidjan Street,
Zone 3,
Wuse,
Abuja, FCT [1]
Employees18,000
Agency executive
  • Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, Comptroller General
Website customs.gov.ng

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is an agency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which operates as an independent customs service under the supervisory oversight of the Nigerian Ministry of Finance, responsible for the collection of customs revenue, facilitation of both national and international trade, anti-smuggling and border security activities, with it's headquarters at No 2. Lake Taal Close, off Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi St, Maitama, Abuja [2] .

Contents

Organizational structure

The NCS is headed by the Comptroller General, who oversees the work of 9 Deputy Comptrollers-General (DCGs) in the following departments at the NCS Headquarters.

These Deputy Comptrollers-General have Assistant Comptrollers-General heading each division under them while Comptrollers runs the affair of each unit under these divisions.

ACG (Headquarters) reports directly to the Comptroller-General along with the heads of some Special Units in addition to 4 Assistant Comptroller-General (ACG) in the zones that coordinate the area commands under their respective jurisdictions. [4]

Board

The NCS board is chaired by the Minister of Finance, while the Vice-Chairman is the Comptroller-General. The Board was set up with main functions to include Appointment, Promotion and Discipline of officers of the service. The Board is also to administer the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023. It is the policy making organ of the service.

Members of the NCS Board include:

Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service

Media network

The Nigeria Customs Service operates a media division with radio and television operations, the Nigeria Customs Broadcasting Network.

Reputation

The Nigerian government claims that the service in recent times has redeemed its image from a corruption riddled government agency to a new organization, that has cleaned itself of corrupt practices pointing to the fact that since the year 2017 its revenue contribution to the country continue to rise above one trillion Naira annually. [6]

Despite the claims of the government that the reputation of the service has improved from a corrupt government agency to an agency that has imbibed the spirit of selflessness to the country over self-enrichment of its officers, several examples of extensive bribery and corruption allegations still exist.

One example (cited by the government) of an incidence that demonstrated a new customs service was the rejection of the sum of $415,000 bribe by an official of the service Bashir Abubakar, being the money offered to him in order to facilitate the release of containers of dangerous drugs [tramadol]

at Apapa Port in Lagos. [7]

The Nigeria Customs Service is known to have a reputation that has been marred by numerous corruption and fraud scandals across the years. According to Transparency International's 2010 Global Corruption Barometer, more than half of local households surveyed attested to paying bribes to NCS officers in 2009. [8]

To date, compromised staff, complex regulations and bureaucracy surrounding the import and export of goods has nurtured an environment in which bribes are commonly paid. Several companies are also believed to undervalue their goods upon importation to avoid penalties. Yet other companies, operating in the informal economy, resort to smuggling as a means of avoiding legal trade.

Notably, a number of foreign companies have been involved in fraud and corruption scandals in recent years:

In addition to legal cases involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), many Nigerian businesspeople face everyday situations where customs officials ask for bribes to let their goods pass through customs smoothly. [14] [15] On the other hand, some customs officials may even demand bribes to allow illegal goods to be smuggled in:

Despite the detailed allegations, the NCS has yet to respond, and this has led many activists to call for far-reaching reforms [18] [19] [20] that would place corruption at the back seat and seal up revenue leakages.

Directors and comptroller-general past and present

References

  1. Amaka Anagor (21 June 2023). "From image making to CG, meet Bashir Adewale Adeniyi new Customs boss". Business Day.
  2. "CUSTOMS HEADQUARTERS – Nigeria Customs Service". customs.gov.ng. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
  3. Nigeria Customs Service. "Organisation Structure". Nigeria Customs Service. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  4. https://customs.gov.ng/?page_id=3119.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. https://customs.gov.ng/?page_id=3119.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. "FG sets N887bn revenue generation target for NCS in 2019". This Day.
  7. "Customs officer reject N150M bribe on tramadol imports". Vanguard Nigeria. 22 November 2018.
  8. "abdullahi dikko inde". Business Anti-Corruption Portal. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  9. U.S. Department of Justice (6 February 2007). "Three Vetco International Ltd. Subsidiaries Plead Guilty to Foreign Bribery and Agree to Pay $26 Million in Criminal Fines". PR Newswire. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  10. "Aibel Group Limited pleads guilty in the US second time around". European Anti-Bribery Blog. 23 November 2008. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012.
  11. 1 2 Samuel Rubenfeld (13 January 2011). "Nigeria Arrests 12 Oil Executives Over Alleged Bribery". Wall Street Journal.
  12. "SEC Posts Cases Eligible For Whistleblower Rewards". FCPA Blog. 10 November 2011.
  13. Rowena Mason and Richard Blackden (4 November 2010). "Shell to pay $48m Nigerian bribe fine". Telegraph.
  14. "How corrupt officials skim government at the ports". Peoples Daily. 4 November 2011. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  15. Babs Ajayi (27 May 2011). "End of Oyo Buffoonery But Flagrant Corruption Consumes Nigerian Customs". NigeriaWorld.
  16. Suleiman, Qosim (27 February 2024). "Top Nigeria Customs officers enmeshed in multi-billion naira corruption scandal". Premium Times. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  17. Soyombo, Fisayo (28 February 2024). "Nigeria Customs Smuggling Terrorist Motorcyles [sic], Hard Drugs Into Northern Nigeria". Foundation for Investigative Journalisms. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  18. "Customs of Pagan Tribes in the Kwongoma District of N. Nigeria" . African Affairs. XI (XLIII): 332–338. April 1912. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a099512. ISSN   1468-2621.
  19. "Nigerian Customs and transportation revenue collection". SunNews online. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  20. "Revisiting the 1993 Arusha report on customs". SunNews online.