Triumphant: Adeniyi Earns 1 Year Tenure Extension as Customs CG -

President Bola Tinubu has approved a one-year extension of the tenure of the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi.

Adeniyi, whose tenure was initially set to expire on August 31, 2025, will now remain in office until August 2026.

According to a statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the extension is aimed at allowing Adeniyi to consolidate ongoing reforms and complete key initiatives of the Tinubu administration.

These include the modernisation of the Customs Service, implementation of the National Single Window Project, and Nigeria’s obligations under the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, protocol.

“President Tinubu recognises Mr. Adeniyi’s steadfast leadership and commitment to service.

President Tinubu, the statement added, acknowledged Mr. Adeniyi’s “steadfast leadership and commitment to service” and expressed confidence that the additional year will further strengthen the Nigeria Customs Service in its core mandate areas—trade facilitation, revenue generation, and border security.

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“The President is confident that this extension will further strengthen the Nigeria Customs Service in achieving its strategic mandate of trade facilitation, revenue generation, and border security,” the statement read.

Tinubu appointed Adeniyi as the CG of the Nigeria Customs Service in October 2023.

Adeniyi, who took over from former CG Hameed Ali in June 2023, had initially been appointed in an acting capacity before his confirmation in October of the same year.

Nigeria Customs Service plays a vital role in the country’s economic framework, serving as a gatekeeper for revenue collection and national security at the borders.

With the AfCFTA now entering critical stages of execution, the administration’s decision signals a continued emphasis on trade integration, digital systems enhancement, and cross-border efficiency.

About The Nigeria Customs Service

The Nigeria Customs Service 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 its headquarters at No 2. Lake Taal Close, off Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi St, Maitama, Abuja.

The Federal 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.

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 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 at Apapa Port in Lagos.

The NCS 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.

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.