The Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, has urged the Senate Committee on Customs to assist in providing advanced tools for a comprehensive automation of its operations. This move, he emphasized aims to improve trade facilitation and boost revenue generation.
Adeniyi highlighted the Customs Service’s commitment to economic growth and trade relations during a meeting at the National Assembly on Wednesday
Addressing the Senate Committee’s interest in doubling revenue collection, Adeniyi stressed the importance of not only introducing modern tools, but also standardizing them to enhance clearance processes for both the Customs administration and stakeholders. He recalled the Customs Service’s initiation of automation in the late 1990s and discussed objectives, including updating infrastructure to international standards and building a Unified Customs Management System.
Explaining the technology-based solutions, Adeniyi detailed the need for an end-to-end ICT platform to digitize procedures, emphasizing electronic party systems for automated processes. He highlighted conditions of the non-intrusive inspection system, cargo tracking, and infrastructure development.
Adeniyi urged the Senators to actively support local businesses in exports, stating that it could significantly contribute to economic growth and job creation. Responding to the call for increased revenue generation, he proposed measures that could create jobs, enhance tax payments, attract investors, and rejuvenate industrial sectors.
Senator Muhammad Sani, Committee Chairman, commended Adeniyi’s efforts in revenue generation, expressing optimism about the Customs Service’s potential to multiply its financial contributions. The session with the House of Representatives’ Procurement Committee discussed financial commitments but was postponed for further deliberation on another date.
