The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), in collaboration with the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and the World Bank Group, on Monday kicked off a 5-day WCO Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme as part of their joint efforts to strengthen trade facilitation, enhance compliance, and deepen customs modernisation in Nigeria.
The programme is designed to review previously agreed objectives and validate the strategic approach for implementing key reform initiatives, with particular focus on Post-Clearance Audit (PCA), as well as serve as a platform to assess progress made so far while identifying practical steps to improve efficiency, transparency, and risk-based compliance management across customs operations.
Speaking at the opening session of the programme, the Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs, Kikelomo Adeola, who represented the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, explained that the PCA represented a key pillar of modern customs administration.
According to the NCS boss, an effective PCA framework supports informed risk management, strengthens voluntary compliance, and facilitates legitimate trade without compromising revenue assurance.
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She said: “This mission underscores the strong partnership between the WCO and the Nigeria Customs Service. It reflects our shared commitment to strengthening PCA frameworks, enhancing officers’ technical competencies, and institutionalising best practices that promote voluntary compliance while safeguarding revenue.”
Quoting renowned author, Brian Herbert, to support her stance, Adeola maintained that the “capacity to learn is a gift, the ability to learn is a skill, but the willingness to learn is a choice. The Nigeria Customs Service has chosen to make PCA work in our country.”
In his address at the event, a Trade Facilitation Expert with the WCO, James Clark, commended the NCS for the significant progress it achieved within a short period, noting that Nigeria’s trade facilitation reforms reflect a broader national commitment to improving the ease of doing business and aligning customs procedures with global best practices.
Clark said: “The creation of the PCA Manual was an impressive piece of work. Beyond that, the steps taken to operationalise it and your commitment to building a world-class PCA programme within the NCS have been remarkable.
“It is not an easy task to achieve what you have done. There is still more work ahead, but the progress recorded so far has been truly commendable.”
In her remarks, the Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of Tariff and Trade, Caroline Niagwan, spoke on the deliberate steps taken by the Service to strengthen PCA and risk management systems as part of the management’s efforts to enhance compliance, improve revenue collection, facilitate legitimate trade, and protect the nation’s economic interests.
This is even as the Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of PCA, Babatunde Olomu, described the week-long programme as timely and strategic and that it was being held at a critical stage in the Service’s reform journey.
Olomu expressed optimism that the capacity building programme would further strengthen the Service’s institutional capacity in audit-driven compliance and trade facilitation.
