*Advise President to consider merit, proven capacity, integrity in appointments
By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
As Nigeria grapples with financial difficulties and hardship occasioned by the current economic crunch, about 259 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the country have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to replicate the innovations and ground breaking feats applied by the Nigeria Customs Service in its innovative revenue generation drive and collection.
The CSOs, operating under the aegis of the Coalition for Transparency and Economic Reforms (COTER), noted that the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu administration is already yielding appreciable results through the innovative revenue drive exemplified by the Nigeria Customs and which has resulted in unprecedented higher revenue collection by the Service in its 134 years of existence.
The coalition however urged President Tinubu to consider merit, proven capacity, integrity and productivity as crucial criteria in appointing a new Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service to succeed the outgoing CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, as he proceeds on a terminal leave ahead of his retirement from service.
“With the incumbent CGC due to retire in the next few months, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must ensure that the appointment of his successor is strictly based on merit, proven capacity and integrity, so as to upscale the current revenue target,” it said.
The Coalition said these in a statement jointly signed by its President, Dr Peter Chima Chukwu and General Secretary, Mallam Auta Ibrahim Koko and made available to newsmen on Wednesday.
The CSOs stated that going by the exhilarating results from the country’s sea ports in terms of revenue generation and collection, particularly at the Apapa Customs Area Command, the President has the duty to ensure that the type of competent and efficient leadership put in charge of these “performing commands” by the outgoing CGC Adeniyi, especially in the past one year, should be encouraged for the enhancement of services and betterment of the NCS operations in general.
The CSOs, which praised the outgoing CGC Adeniyi for taking the Customs to greater heights in his short but eventful tenure, noted that these three port commands have been contributing significantly to Nigeria’s economic well-being, industry growth and national security through their sustenance and improvement of intelligence sharing, robust interactions, cooperation with sister government agencies and regular stakeholder engagements.
The coalition added that the policy thrust of the outgoing CGC, including the deployment of a Unified Customs Management System, popularly known as B’Odogwu, is also being effectively utilised by the three port commands to achieve higher productivity ahead of the other commands of the NCS with a view to assisting the Customs in its efforts to surpass the 2024 revenue collection and meeting its 2025 target.
COTER further stated, “The Apapa, Tin Can and Onne Area Commands have continued to record groundbreaking feats in the history of the almost one and a half century old Nigeria Customs Service due to the reforms embarked upon by the President Bola Tinubu-led administration and the Controller General of the NCS, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi.
“We commend the present administration for these landmark achievements and call for further reforms to enhance revenue generation by the various collecting agencies. This, indeed, is highly commendable.
“It is apt at this juncture to be specific on some of the revenue collection feats already recorded by the Apapa Area Command of the NCS. In the third quarter of 2024, the Apapa Port Command reported a revenue collection of N1.61trillion. This figure surpassed the N1.17trillion revenue collected in 2023.
“This feat can be attributed to diligence and integrity as well as the command’s commitment to collaborating with stakeholders to enhance revenue collection and check smuggling. In the first quarter of 2025, the same command generated a whopping N1.75trillion, surpassing its target by N106.5billion.
“This is a significant milestone and monumental achievement recorded even before the completion of the first half of 2025. This is a clear indication that the Command is set to surpass the N2.3trillion revenue collected before the end of December 2024.
“Similarly, the Tin Can Island Port collected a total revenue of N1trillion within the same period while Onne generated about N600billion.
“This remarkable feat boldly underscores the unrelenting efforts of these Commands to continue to boost revenue generation and enhance trade facilitation.
“These proactive strategies and efficient operations of the Commands have continued to yield impressive results, which have positioned them as major contributors to the nation’s economic growth”, the statement concluded.
END
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