– It’s the beginning of greater revenue exploits, Says Comptroller Oshoba
Esther Oritse
Lagos — The Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is positioning itself at the forefront of trade facilitation and digital transformation, following a landmark revenue performance that underscores renewed operational efficiency and strategic leadership.
Under the leadership of Comptroller Emmanuel Oshoba, the command recorded a historic ₦304 billion in October 2025 — the highest monthly collection ever by any customs formation in Nigeria. This milestone, which surpasses the ₦264 billion recorded in October 2024, brings the command’s cumulative revenue for the first ten months of 2025 to over ₦2.4 trillion, already exceeding its total collection for the entire 2024 fiscal year.
Beyond the figures, the Apapa Command’s achievement is being viewed as evidence of improved compliance, process automation, and stronger collaboration between officers and port stakeholders. Comptroller Oshoba, while commending the team, described the result as a “launchpad for greater exploits” and an indication that the command is prepared to handle rising trade volumes efficiently.
He revealed that officers have been adequately sensitised ahead of the deployment of a Drive-Through Scanning system — a technology designed to process an average of 150 containers per hour directly from the quayside. The initiative, he said, will significantly reduce clearance time and redefine trade facilitation standards across West African ports.
Following an in-house capacity-building exercise for newly promoted Deputy and Assistant Comptrollers, Oshoba reaffirmed the command’s commitment to aligning with the vision of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, to deliver smarter, faster, and more transparent customs operations.
“I commend my officers and our compliant stakeholders for this revenue collection milestone, but it’s not our final destination. While we are deploying all tools of trade facilitation as directed by the CGC, including the One-Stop-Shop (OSS) which harmonizes all customs procedures and processes to save time and promote efficiency, we are also preventing revenue leakages.
“We have a zero-compromise stance in the application of demand notices (DN) for the recovery of uncovered shortfalls in revenue and my officers are very vigilant checking any attempt to misapply Harmonised System (HS) Code for duty evasion.
“To accentuate the importance we attach to trade facilitation, I have personally paid unannounced visits to some parts of the port access roads where I urged truckers, freight forwarders and licensed customs agents to cooperate with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) by prioritising the movement of their cleared consignments out of the ports.
“I have also visited the Port Manager to strengthen our collaboration towards making Apapa Port very efficient. If cleared consignments fail to exit, new ones coming for examination or scanning would be slowed down and this affects trade directly while impeding on the NCS revenue collection and trade facilitation mandates.
“We need the support of everyone to consolidate and build on the existing achievements we have recorded in terms revenue collection and trade facilitation. We are ready to do better” the CAC said.”
