Oyedele Tasks Customs on Transparency and Quicker Cargo Clearance
By Trek Africa Newspaper
The minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has called on the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to raise its performance standards and adopt world-class benchmarks that improve Nigeriaβs competitiveness in regional and global trade.
Oyedele made the remarks during a visit to the Customs headquarters in Abuja this week, where he chaired his first board meeting since assuming office as finance minister. He said he toured the facility before the meeting to inspect recent investments in technology and intelligence, and commended the leadership and staff for βnotable progress on revenue generation and trade facilitationβ.
However, the minister warned that recent gains should not lead to complacency. βResults are precisely what should propel us to do more,β he said, charging the Service to set measurable, world-class targets that strengthen Nigeriaβs regional and global competitiveness. He stressed that βNigeria must lead through performance, not rhetoric.β
Oyedele outlined four key areas where he expects Customs to deliver: Port efficiency that eliminates bottlenecks; end-to-end transparency across all operations; accelerated cargo clearance timelines; and uncompromising integrity in revenue collection
His remarks come as Customs reports strong revenue performance in 2026, having generated N4.03 trillion in the first half of the year and N1.38 trillion in July and August alone, putting the agency on course to meet its N11 trillion annual target. Comptroller-General Adewale Adeniyi has attributed part of the gains to automation, technology-led reforms and improved trade facilitation.
The finance minister said the federal government remains committed to equipping Customs with the technology, tools and policy support needed to do more. He urged every officer to see themselves βnot just as border administrators, but as frontline drivers of Nigeriaβs economic growth and global competitivenessβ.
The emphasis on faster clearance and transparency aligns with ongoing reforms, including the Customsβ BβOdogwu digital platform and broader efforts to cut clearance times at ports, where investigations have shown cargo can still take three to five days to clear amid network failures and multiple queries.
