In a bid to carry her stakeholders along on the Post clearance audit(PCA) procedures, the Nigeria Customs service has intensified it ongoing nationwide sensitisation seminar to better educate importers , manufacturers and the entire business communities on the application of the newly introduced World Customs Organisation (WCO) trade facilitation tools as enshrined in the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023.

The stakeholders workshop which was organise by the Post Clearance Audit (PCA) Unit of the NCS on Thursday in Lagos was to educate stakeholders on the WCO trade facilitation tool, the Authorise Economic Operator (AEO) and the role of the PCA in accordance with the WCO convention and application.

In his keynote address at the workshop at  Eko hotel in Lagos , Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, said he was

glad to see the trading community so well represented, because according to him “they are the focus of today’s engagement.

“I will begin further back than the audit function itself, because Post-Clearance Audit did not arrive in Nigeria by accident. It arrived because two things happened at about the same time.

“The first is that the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023 gave this Service a modern legal foundation, and with it an express mandate to verify compliance after goods have been released. The second is that The Federal Government set a clear

direction on revenue and on the business environment, and asked the agencies of

government to meet both objectives at once.

“That instruction deserves to be stated plainly, because it is harder than it sounds. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration has pursued a broadening of non-oil revenue, a reform of the fiscal system and a serious effort to reduce the cost and friction of doing business in Nigeria. Customs sits precisely where those objectives meet. We are asked to collect more, and to obstruct less.”

Adeniyi said the scale of the first half of that instruction is worth stating.

 He informed that in 2025 , the Service collected ?7.281 trillion against a target of ?6.584 trillion, exceeding it by ?697billion, and rising from ?6.1 trillion the previous year,

“This is a growth of some 19 percent year on year. For 2026 the target set for us is ?11.074 trillion. At the end of

June we stood at ?4.30 trillion, which the Board reviewed at its 65th Regular Meeting on 2nd of September. These figures make a point about the methods that must be applied and not celebrated alone. Numbers of that order cannot be delivered by opening more containers. They can only be delivered by knowing which containers to open.” .

To achieve more revenue collection, Adeniyi said is only one way to do both. “Control has to move off the quay. If every

consignment must be opened at the port before it is released, then revenue assurance and trade facilitation will pull against each other for as long as we practise Customs, and the trader will pay for that contest in demurrage and delay.

 Post-Clearance Audit is how that contest is resolved. It allows goods to move on the strength of the declaration, and moves the verification to the records, after release, where it can be done thoroughly and without holding up commerce.

“The good thing is that we now have recent measurement to work with. In January this year the Service published the findings of the Time Release Study conducted at Tin Can Island Port, a facility that handles more than a tenth of Nigeria’s seaborne trade.

“The study followed 601 import declarations from arrival to physical exit, and it was carried out with the shipping lines, the terminal operators, the Nigerian Ports Authority, licensed agents and the banks, so that what it recorded would be the real operating environment and not our own account of it.

“The central finding deserves the attention of everybody in this room. A container at Tin Can Island sat for about 5 days before it left the port. The physical examination of that container took a matter of hours. For 98.7 per cent of consignments, the interval between booking for examination and physical exit averaged close to 4 days, and a small number of prolonged cases carried the overall average to nearly 5.

“Read that carefully, because it does not say what people often assume it says. It

does not say that Customs examination is slow. It says that examination is fast and

clearance is slow, and that the difference between the two is made up of manual

processes, fragmented coordination between agencies, and the waiting that these

produce. The delay is in the architecture, not in the inspection.

“As I said when the

report was launched, the study allowed us to move from assumptions to facts, and some of those facts were uncomfortable.”, he explained.

Speaking further Adeniyi said if the problem was slow examination, the answer would be more examiners.

 “It is not, and so the answer is different. The answer is to reduce the number of

consignments that need to be stopped at all, by verifying afterwards those that do not

and not celebrated alone. Numbers of that order cannot be delivered by opening more

containers. They can only be delivered by knowing which containers to open.

“There is only one way to do both. Control has to move off the quay. If every

consignment must be opened at the port before it is released, then revenue assurance and trade facilitation will pull against each other for as long as we practise Customs, and the trader will pay for that contest in demurrage and delay.

“So, the message today is a simple one. Compliance should not be driven by fear

of enforcement. It should be driven by confidence in a system that is fair, predictable and consistently applied. Businesses need clarity. You need to understand your obligations, and you are equally entitled to understand your rights. You are entitled to know that an audit will be conducted professionally, transparently and within the applicable legal framework, by officers”. he noted

 It also gives you an opportunity to speak to us. We are listening, and we are prepared to learn.

Adeniyi urges the stakeholders that their partnership must rest on responsibility, and the responsibility runs both ways.

He said the Service expects traders to keep accurate records, make truthful declarations and observe the laws governing international trade.

 “Where errors occur, and they will, our system should encourage their prompt correction and voluntary disclosure instead of punishing the trader who comes forward.

“For our part, we are moving the Service from a culture of intervention to one in which compliance is the natural outcome of understanding, trust and cooperation. As we modernise, we are applying technology, trade data and professional expertise to make our processes faster while strengthening revenue assurance.

Earlier in his welcome address, the host and Assistant Comptroller General, Post Clearance Audit ( PCA), ACG Babatude Olomu PhD said the engagement comes at a critical time in the NCS efforts to strengthen PCA as a strategic instrument for revenue assurance, voluntary compliance, trade facilitation and improved customs administration.

“It also provides an important platform for strengthening understanding, cooperation and mutual trust between the Service and our stakeholders.”, he assured

According to ACG Olomu the programme is geared towards strengthening three key objectives: Enhancing Stakeholder Understanding and Voluntary Compliance;

Strengthening Revenue Assurance and Risk-Based Compliance and; Deepening Partnership and Institutional Cooperation.

He said the impact of PCA interventions is increasingly evident in the Service’s revenue performance. “Between January and August 2025, the Service recovered ?21,278,494,169.61, while the corresponding period in 2026 recorded ?27,181,037,678.77 – an increase of ?5,902,543,509.16, representing approximately 27.7% growth year-on-year.

“This substantial improvement reflects the growing effectiveness of our PCA interventions, particularly enhanced risk-based targeting, more robust audit processes, strengthened case management and improved stakeholder compliance.

 Beyond the increase in recoveries, this performance demonstrates the PCA’s expanding contribution to revenue assurance, compliance management and accountability, while reinforcing the Service’s commitment to leveraging post-clearance interventions to secure government revenue and promote a more compliant trading environment.

By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos

The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Port Harcourt Branch, has insisted on strict compliance with the Remuneration Order, directing members to adhere fully to the prescribed payment procedure on professional fees.

In a statement by the Secretary of the Branch, Rachel C. Princewill, and made available to the Public in Port Harcourt recently, the branch reaffirmed that it commenced full compliance with the Remuneration Order with effect from October 1, 2025.

Princewill explained that the position of the branch was in line with the express provisions of the Remuneration Order, stressing that  entire amount payable as professional fees on any given transaction must be remitted into the NBA Port Harcourt Branch’s designated account.

According to her, the directive was intended to ensure strict adherence to the provisions of the order and eliminate practices inconsistent with the prescribed remuneration regime.

She disclosed that the branch had reviewed earlier communications on compliance with the Remuneration Order and was reaffirming its established position for the guidance of members.

The NBA Port Harcourt Branch Secretary further announced that the practice of remitting only one per cent of the payable amount into the branch account had been discontinued.

She said the practice was officially banned with effect from September 4, 2026, stressing that members were expected to comply with the new directive forthwith.

Princewill therefore directed members to ensure that the entire ten per cent payable amount is remitted into the NBA Port Harcourt Branch’s Globus account in accordance with the Remuneration Order.

She further stated that all deeds, instruments and other relevant documents must be duly executed before they are submitted for compliance.

The branch secretary urged all members to take note of the directive and ensure strict compliance, noting that the new position was binding on members in handling applicable transactions.

She said the directive was part of the branch’s effort to ensure uniformity and proper adherence to the provisions governing professional fees within the legal profession.

Members seeking further clarification were advised to contact the Branch Treasurer or the Financial Secretary through the telephone numbers provided by the secretariat for necessary guidance.

By: King Onunwor

The Federal Government has begun payment of additional exit benefits to retirees of Treasury-funded Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) disclosed in a statement that about N1.1 billion had been paid to 175 retirees who exited the Federal Public Service between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31.

It said the payments were being made under the Federal Government Exit Benefit Scheme (EBS), approved by the Federal Executive Council and effective from Jan. 1.

According to PenCom, the scheme provides additional financial benefits to federal employees at retirement, alongside pension benefits under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

It said federal civil servants who had served for at least 10 years were entitled to an exit benefit equivalent to 100 per cent of their total annual emolument.

PenCom said the commencement of the payment marked a significant development in efforts to provide retirees with additional benefits beyond their Retirement Savings Account (RSA) balances.

It said the 2026 Appropriation provided N32.90 billion for the smooth implementation of the scheme.

“So far, the Federal Government has released N12.3 billion into the dedicated Exit Benefit Scheme Account maintained with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).”

The commission said it was supporting the implementation of the scheme in collaboration with the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and other stakeholders.

It said the collaboration was aimed at ensuring proper processing, verification and prompt payment of the benefits.

PenCom explained that retirees were required to submit relevant documents, including clearance letters and recent payslips, to their PFAs.

It said the PFAs would verify the records and forward the information to PenCom for further validation and approval.

PenCom said the maiden payment demonstrated that the scheme had officially begun for retirees of Treasury-funded MDAs.

It noted that subsequent retirees who met the eligibility requirements would be entitled to an additional exit benefit equivalent to 100 per cent of their total annual emolument at retirement.