By Anthony Nwachukwu
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, says the agency remains committed to enhancing collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to facilitate trade and boost revenue generation, to the benefit of all Nigerians.
Adeniyi spoke during a courtesy visit to the CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, stating that the partnership will drive the full implementation of the B’Odogwu system – an indigenous trade facilitation platform developed by the Nigeria customs to replace the Nigerian Integrated Customs Information System.
According to Adeniyi, the initiative is expected to modernise customs operations, improve efficiency in trade documentation, and enhance revenue collection.
Speaking on the project, he emphasised the importance of seamless integration between the NCS and financial institutions, particularly in automating foreign exchange transactions and trade-related payments.
Adeniyi explained that the new system was introduced following the expiration of the contract with the previous service provider, which had been extended multiple times before the government entered a new concession agreement in 2023.
“We began piloting the B’Odogwu programme at the Port and Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML) Area Command in Lagos and engaged all stakeholders, including the Central Bank,” the CGC noted.
“Three months into the pilot phase, we integrated key trade documentation processes, such as Form M and Pre-Arrival Assessment Report, but encountered initial challenges, particularly resistance from some of the Authorised Dealer Banks (ADBs).
Adeniyi urged the CBN to grant the necessary approvals for banks to integrate into the system to enable seamless transactions and urged continued support and collaboration to ensure a smooth nationwide rollout of B’Odogwu.
He noted bottlenecks in the current manual process of communicating prevailing exchange rate to the service by the apex bank for the purpose of duty collection.
On his part, Cardoso commended customs’ innovative approach and pledged support towards its success. He assured close working relationship to ensure seamless integration, and for commercial banks’ compliance with directives to improve trade processes and revenue collection.
