To boost trade facilitation and revenue generation capacity of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the Service announces the acquisition of an electronic Currency Declaration Form (e-CDF) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja with a plan to deploy it to other commands of the service to achieve transparency and generate more revenue among other advantages
By Edu Abade
As part of its continued efforts to drive digital transformation and modernize operations, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has implemented the electronic Currency Declaration Form (e-CDF) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, aiming to bolster border security and improve transparency in financial disclosures.
The NCS disclosed that the pilot exercise, which commenced on April 9, 2025, was implemented without issues, adding that the deployment showcased the system’s effectiveness in digitally capturing both inbound and outbound currency declarations, offering a secure, efficient and accountable process for cross-border travelers in the country.
In a statement, NCS Spokesman, Abdullahi Maiwada, an Assistant Comptroller of Customs (AC), explained that during the pilot phase, the e-CDF system recorded 69 currency declaration transactions, adding that of the number, outbound declarations amounted to 51 percent of the transactions, with a total declared value of $1,200,281.22, while inbound declarations accounted for 18 percent or $177,786.88.
Maiwada said: “The e-CDF platform was developed to align with the best international practices in anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-financing of terrorism (CFT) protocols. It provides real-time data that supports intelligence gathering and inter-agency cooperation.
“The NCS remains committed to leveraging technology to improve compliance, facilitate legitimate travel and trade, and ensure the integrity of Nigeria’s borders. Following the success of the pilot phase, plans are underway to replicate the deployment of the e-CDF system at other international airports and border posts across the country.”
In another development, the Apapa Area I Customs Command intercepted prohibited items and contrabands including high-tech drones, illegal medicals, unregistered pharmaceuticals and other items valued at N912 million between January and April 2025.
Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, who briefed journalists on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 in Lagos, said the operation was a targeted response to the evolving tactics used by both local and international criminal networks aiming to undermine Nigeria’s border security and bypass import regulations.
Adeniyi, who said the Customs Service has ramped up surveillance at unauthorized entry points, including seaports, airports and designated land borders, expressed concern over the influx of unregistered pharmaceutical products into the country, warning that many of these items lack regulatory approval and proper quality assurance.
He maintained that some of the intercepted drugs pose a serious public health risk and could lead to widespread illness or death if allowed into the domestic market, adding: “The Customs, in collaboration with other agencies of government, in exercise of our mandates, have therefore escalated our risk assessment protocols at all points of entry.
“And pursuant to the National Strategic Economic Development Plan, and the executive order on port operations, we have intensified surveillance across unauthorized points of entries, specifically seaports, airports and approved land borders.
“This is in direct response to the adaptive methodologies being deployed by transactional, transnational criminal networks seeking to compromise our border security architecture and circumvent established import protocols. Of particular concern is the alarming prevalence of unregistered pharmaceutical products entering our supply chain without requisite regulatory approvals and quality assurance certification programmes.
“The items constitute a clear present danger to public health with potentials to cause significant morbidity and mortality if permitted to infiltrate our domestic markets. Customs, in collaboration with other agencies of government, in exercise of our mandates, have therefore escalated our risk assessment protocols at all points of entry. And I’m going to be specifically talking about what has happened in this command, which between January and April 2025 has executed a series of targeted interceptions resulting in the seizure of prohibited and restricted imports.
“The operations resulted in n11 seizures comprising five units of 40-foot containers, two units of 20-foot containers and four additional seizures of loosely concealed contraband items. We are going to be seeing them. The duty paid values of all this amounts to 921 billion naira.”
Adeniyi equally explained that the items fall into three different categories, saying: “The first category is that of unregistered pharmaceutical products lacking mandatory registration numbers and certification, which is a direct confirmation of Section 28 of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Act, Cap N-1, laws of the Federation and this constitutes 63.7 percent of the total seizures that we have today, more than half of them.
“In the second category are expired food items with compromised safety profiles that pose imminent danger to public health if introduced into the consumer market in violation of the food products registrations and regulations and pre-shipment inspections of exports act.
“The third category involves controlled equipment including drone technology and telecommunication devices imported without the requisite end user certificates from the Office of the National Security Advisor. And if you want to break down this further, the first 40-footer container CAAU6514500 has 89 cartons of unregistered pharmaceutical products. The second container, a 40-footer TCNU6880130 has 242 cartons of unregistered pharmaceutical products.
The third 40-footer container MRSU3041714 has 1,001 cartons and packages of hydra-sildenafil citrate tablets. These are also lacking requisite NAVDAC registrations. The third 40-footer container has 1,400 packages of original so-called original chest and lungs beta plus big booty tablets also unregistered, among others.
Also, the NCS has commenced its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative tagged: Customs Cares, with the official handover of its first completed project—a fully renovated Local Authority Nursery and Primary School in Sagbokoji, Amuwo Odofin Council of Lagos State.
As part of the intervention, the agency also upgraded the only primary healthcare centre in the coastal community, equipping it with modern medical supplies and essential equipment.
Speaking during the presentation of educational materials to the pupils, Adeniyi expressed the agency’s pride in contributing meaningfully to community development through the rehabilitation of both the school and the health centre.
He also expressed the agency’s satisfaction in contributing to the advancement of education and the well being of the community’s residents, adding: “I am therefore very happy to be here this afternoon to identify with a major need of the school.
“The Customs Area Comptroller has told you that before we chose this school, a lot of engagements and consultations were carried out in the school to see how we can upgrade the school and its infrastructure.
“As you possibly know, the projects that we undertake are driven by our Corporate Social Responsibility programme and one of them is education and health. In education, we are undertaking projects that will have a direct impact on our schools and on our students.”
Similarly, a teacher at the school, Mrs. Ajoke Ademuluyi, highlighted some of the projects done in the school, including complete repairs, installation of a borehole and water tank, supply of teaching boards, floor tiling and replacement of damaged roofing, adding that the school’s sick bay was also upgraded.
The Customs Cares initiative, launched earlier this year, reflects the NCS’s commitment to long-term investments in education, healthcare, environmental sustainability, and community development. The programme will be funded by four percent of the agency’s annual wage bill.
According to the NCS, it plans to adopt at least one school per local government area in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja before scaling up the initiative nationwide. The health component of the project will include medical outreaches, deployment of mobile clinics and anti-malaria campaigns.
