The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, has expressed satisfaction with the Nigeria Customs Service’s progress but emphasised the need to scale up efforts to meet the country’s economic demands.
He spoke at the end of the 62nd regular meeting of the NCS board on Tuesday, at the Service’s headquarters in Maitama, Abuja.
The session was chaired by the minister, who led a high-powered delegation to assess the Service’s first-quarter performance and chart the way forward.
Edun said: “As is expected and required, there is an improvement in the revenue of the Service, which is slightly above what was budgeted for the first quarter.
“However, much more is required, and more is expected of an institution that is pivotal in revenue.”
He described the board meeting as productive and reaffirmed the importance of open governance and accountability within public institutions.
“It was a good meeting. It’s important that we maintain corporate governance oversight and consultation through these regular statutory meetings.
“At the end of the day, we will always ask that we do more to improve the revenue and the services operations to aid the Nigerian economy and serve the good people of Nigeria.”
The board meeting served as a statutory forum to evaluate the NCS’s operational strategies, fiscal contributions, and reform-driven activities, particularly in light of its Q1 2025 performance.
A press release from the NCS stated on Wednesday that during the quarter, the Service recorded a historic ₦1.75 trillion in revenue, exceeding its target by ₦106.5 billion and marking a nearly 30% increase compared to the same period in 2024.
The meeting also touched on modernisation initiatives such as expanding the B’Odogwu (Unified Customs Management System), implementing the Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) programme, and enhancing anti-smuggling efforts—all aimed at boosting trade facilitation and national security.
