- Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi
By Anthony Nwachukwu
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced the reintroduction of the 4 per cent Free on Board (FOB) levy on imports earlier suspended in February 2025.
Announcing the development during a town hall meeting with stakeholders on the B’Odogwu Clearance System on Monday in Lagos, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, said the extant 1% Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) and the 7% Customs collection charge is now cancelled.
Adeniyi said the NCS has no option to re-introducing the levy to enable it “fund the huge technology and modernisation programme it has embarked on”, and which is crucial to enhancing the agency’s operational efficiency.
According to him, “technology is not cheap. As we migrate from one system to the other, we make a lot of investments in technology rollouts, including system upgrades and all that.”
He explained that, “with the full implementation of the 4 per cent FOB, it means the 1 % CISS will be removed. The 7 per cent cost of collection, which is also being charged, will also be completely removed. It will be a win-win situation for everybody.”
He explained that the 7 per cent collection is taken from the federation account to administer and fund customs, meaning that the three tiers of government and other sub-nationals compromise 7 per cent of what ought to go to the federation account, as had been practiced in the past 10 years.
“However, under the new Act, the 4% FOB is to be paid up front. Once that is done, it is 100 per cent of the revenue generated by customs that will now go to the federation account,” he stated.
Adeniyi stated that the B’Odogwu platform is a key component of the customs modernisation programme, intended to be made a global reference point for trade facilitation.
Against the foregoing, he explained that the town hall was organised to give stakeholders an opportunity for feedback on the B’Odogwu system based on their experiences, enable the agency strengthen the areas working well and address the segments needing adjustments.
Adeniyi expressed confidence that the NCS, now heading the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Council, will use B’Odogwu as a reference point in trade facilitation to showcase its capacity to develop and manage indigenous technology.
“So, in the next two, three years, it is going to be B’Odogwu to the world, and Nigerians will see that we have a system that can work,” he added.
Meanwhile, some stakeholders present at the meeting have commended the B’Odogwu platform for its simplicity, transparency and zero downtime, noting that it has enhanced cargo tracking, ensured faster generation of Pre-Arrival Assessment Reports (PAAR), and reduced clearance times.
However, they complained of migration challenges from the previous NICIS system, as well as banks’ inability to amend transactions on the platform.
The NCS officially launched B’Odogwu on October 23, 2024, with PTML Command as the pilot phase. Afterwards, it has successfully deployed the platform at several commands, including Apapa, Tin Can, Kiri Kiri Lighter Terminal, Lilypond, Lekki Free Trade Zone, and Murtala Muhammed Airport, among other commands across its zones.
