Compliance is Key to Trade Facilitation, ACG Babandede Warns

..Says Customs Strengthening One-Stop-Shop Approach to Curb Cargo Delays 

.. Reiterates NCS Efforts Towards Achieving Paperless Operations by End of 2026

ZAINAB JUNAID 

The Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘A’, Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs (ACG) Mohammed Babandede, has warned that the success of trade facilitation depends largely on importers’ commitment to comply with established procedures.

ACG Babandede gave the warning while speaking with Maritime Reporters’ Association of Nigeria, MARAN newspaper editorial team recently, stressing the need for importers and other stakeholders to ensure that their declarations are accurate, complete and transparent.

He emphasised that technological reforms alone cannot eliminate delays where traders provide inadequate or misleading information.

The Zonal Coordinator also informed that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) was strengthening its one-stop-shop approach to prevent unnecessary interventions after cargo has undergone the required examination and has been formally released.

He explained that the principle was straightforward: once a consignment has been properly examined and released, it should not be subjected to further stoppages by Customs officers elsewhere in the country.

“Any intelligence or information requiring further intervention should be acted upon before the cargo is released,” he said, noting that the approach was designed to eliminate avoidable delays and facilitate legitimate trade.

To him, this is why the Service was increasingly prioritising compliant traders and consignments, with properly documented cargo capable of completing the clearance process and leaving Customs control within 48 hours.

Babandede also disclosed that the NCS was working towards achieving fully paperless operations by the end of 2026, with key stages of the cargo clearance process, including declaration, examination and release, increasingly moving to electronic platforms.

The Zonal Coordinator said the deployment of technology would also extend to transit cargo, with electronic tracking systems being introduced to provide greater visibility over consignments moving through the supply chain.

Speaking further, ACG Babandede revealed that Zone A has set its sights on generating nearly N8 trillion (N8,000,000,000,000) in revenue in 2026, even as declining cargo volumes continue to pose a challenge to revenue collection across the nation’s major ports and border commands.

He stressed that the zone remains committed to delivering a substantial portion of the Federal Government’s revenue target for the year, relying on ongoing reforms, automation and technology-driven processes to improve collection while simultaneously making legitimate trade faster and more predictable.

Zone A, which contributes about 80 per cent of the NCS’s total revenue, comprises 16 commands, including the Apapa, Tin-Can Island, Lekki Deep Sea Port, PTML, Seme and Ogun commands.

The Zone A boss maintained that Customs’ objective was to strike a balance between revenue mobilisation, trade facilitation and border control, particularly at a time when declining cargo volumes were putting additional pressure on government revenue expectations.