THE Nigeria Customs Service generated ₦1.3 trillion in revenue during the first quarter of 2025, more than doubling the ₦600 billion collected in the same period of 2023.
Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, credited this increase to the transformative reforms under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
According to a statement released on Saturday, May 24, 2025 by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, Adeniyi shared this information in an upcoming State House documentary celebrating the President’s second anniversary. Adeniyi explained that the revenue growth resulted from better technology use, improved port operations, stricter measures against revenue leakages, and a strengthened culture of accountability within Customs commands.
Part of the statement reads:” We collected ₦1.3 trillion in Q1 2025 alone. This is not due to higher import volumes. Imports have dropped due to foreign exchange constraints. What has changed is efficiency, transparency, and enforcement.
“We’re laying the foundation to move from a manual, paper-based system to a fully digital service.”
The E-Customs Project is
Adeniyi stated that the new Authorized Economic Operator Program is onboarding pre-approved importers, speeding up processing for compliant businesses and easing port congestion.
He confirmed intensified anti-smuggling efforts have closed major revenue leakages, recovering over ₦64 billion from undervalued imports in nine months. Key smuggling networks at borders like Seme, Idiroko, Katsina, and Sokoto have been dismantled. He also praised the success of joint border patrols with the Nigerian Army, DSS, and Police.
To streamline trade and cut costs, Adeniyi revealed that the Nigeria Customs Service is accelerating the launch of the National Single Window, a digital platform uniting all agencies involved in cargo clearance.
Clearance times at Apapa and Tin Can Ports have been reduced from 21 to 7–10 days for compliant importers. The agency has also introduced fast-track lanes for agro-exports and is collaborating with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council to simplify outbound cargo processes to boost non-oil exports. Additionally, over 1,800 Customs officers have been trained in advanced data analytics, risk profiling, and artificial intelligence as part of internal reforms.
“We’re promoting exports aggressively. Last year, Nigeria exported over ₦340 billion worth of solid minerals and agro commodities through formal channels, up by 38%. We’re targeting even more in 2025,
The President gave us a clear directive: block leakages, facilitate trade, and raise revenue without burdening Nigerians. That is what we are doing. And the results are beginning to speak for themselves,” Adeniyi said.
Fatimah Quadri is a Journalist and a Fact-checker at The ICIR. She has written news articles, fact-checks, explainers, and media literacy in an effort to combat information disorder.
She can be reached at sunmibola_q on X or fquadri@icirnigeria.org