By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
The Acting Comptroller General (CG) of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Wale Adeniyi, has said not all Nigeria’s land borders have been reopened.
This is even as he said that only some selected strategic borders were reopened, adding that Customs is reviewing the process of reopening the remaining borders.
The Customs boss who spoke with State House Correspondents after a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday, said while some strategic borders were reopened in 2022, Customs would soon review the objectives of border closure.
Said he: “Well, it is not true that all Nigerian borders have been reopened. The status quo ante still exists within the borders. If you remember that the borders were completely shut down in 2018 up until 2022, when some selected strategic borders were reopened, that is the situation as we speak.
“Four were initially reopened and two more were opened after that, and that is still the situation.
“There are ongoing processes to review this situation against the objective of the border closure itself. And the processes are not yet completed. And of course, when the borders are reopened, it’s not going to be subject of rumour in any way”.
Speaking further, Adeniyi revealed that part of his discussions with President Tinubu is to actively engage Customs administration’s across the country’s borders, particularly the strategic ones that NCS must work and collaborate with for it to achieve common objectives of border security and regional integration.
“In the next one week, or thereabout, I will be paying an official visit to Republic of Benin, to have discussions with the Customs Administration of Benin, and see how we can take forward the issue of collaborations between us, the issue of border security, the issue of importation across the border, and more importantly, how we can deploy technological solutions to very complex border problems”, Adeniyi disclosed.
Meanwhile, the
Customs CG has expressed his gratitude to President Tinubu for finding him worthy to be appointed the Acting Comptroller General of Customs just as he also revealed that he was at the Presidential Villa to felicitate with Tinubu for his recent appointment as the Chairman of ECOWAS.
Said he: “For us in the Nigerian Customs Service, ECOWAS represents a very bold attempt to forge regional integration, cooperation in border security and monetary affairs. And it is so good to note that my assumption of Office coincide with that period when attention will be focused on Nigeria holding the flag of regional integration.
“I had the opportunity to have very useful discussions and a very constructive engagement with His Excellency, Mr. President. And for all of you that have known him, I’ve worked with him very, very closely. You know that, Mr. President, is a very good listener.
“We had discussions regarding what customs can bring to the table, to actualize the vision of renewed hope for Nigeria, what customers can do in terms of addressing gaps in revenue generation in the customs, our enforcement strategies, and, most importantly, the issue of promoting port efficiency and competitiveness of our Ports”.
