…only some strategic borders are open – Comptroller General
MARGARET CHIDERA
Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, has directed the Customs boss to work towards achieving 48 hours clearance of goods at Nigerian ports.
The President gave the marching order when he received the acting Customs Comptroller General, Adewale Adeniyi at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Briefing journalists after meeting with the President, Adeniyi disclosed that President Tinubu was committed on ensuring major reforms especially at Nigerian ports.
Adeniyi revealed that his discussions with the President center around aligning the vision of customs, the activities of custom in the short, medium and long terms with the noble objectives set out in the Presidential Advisory Council documents.
“We talked about making our ports user friendly. We talked about decongesting the ports. We talked about 48 hours clearance of goods around the ports and export led inward looking economic development strategies. So these are some of the issues that we discussed and I pledged commitment of the customs to bring out reforms and to collaborate with other agencies of government to achieve some of those objectives stated in the Presidential Advisory Council documents.
“We had discussions regarding what customs can bring to the table, to actualize the vision of renewed hope for Nigeria, what customers can do in terms of addressing gaps in revenue generation in the customs, our enforcement strategies, and, most importantly, the issue of promoting port efficiency and competitiveness of our ports.
“So these are generally the issues that we discussed and I believe that in the days ahead, we will be prioritising some of these issues for the benefits of the Nigerian economy.”
The Customs boss further congratulated President Tinubu on his emergence as the Chairman of ECOWAS.
“I want to express gratitude to Mr. President for finding me worthy being appointed the Acting Comptroller General of customs and also to felicitate with him for his recent appointment as the chairman of ECOWAS.
“For us in the Nigerian Customs Service, ECOWAS represents a very bold attempt to forge regional integration, cooperation in border security and monetary affairs. And it is so good to note that my assumption of office coincides with that period when attention will be focused on Nigeria holding the flag of regional integration.”
Furthermore, he cleared the air on the rumours that all Nigerian borders have been opened on the orders of the President.
Adeniyi revealed that not all Nigerian borders have been opened even as he said that only some selected strategic borders were reopened.
“Well, it is not true that all Nigerian borders have been opened. The status quo ante still exists in the borders.
“If you remember that the borders were completely shut down 2018 up until 2022, when some selected strategic borders were reopened, that is to the situation as we speak. And this was why we had an adhoc arrangement of a special unit coordinated by the Office of the NSA to enforce that border closure. But as we speak, about five of them have been reopened.
“Four were initially reopened and two more were open after that. And that is still the situation. There are ongoing processes to review this situation against the objective of the border closure itself. And the processes are not yet completed. And of course, when the borders are reopened, it’s not going to be the subject of rumour in any way.
“I can also tell you that part of my discussions with Mr. President is to actively engage customs administration’s across our borders, particularly the strategic ones that we must work and collaborate with for us to achieve common objectives of border security and regional integration.
“In the next one week, or thereabout, I will be paying an official visit to Republic of Benin, to have discussions with the Customs Administration of Benin, and see how we can take forward the issue of collaborations between us, the issue of border security, the issue of importation across the border, and more importantly, how we can deploy technological solutions to very complex border problems.”
