Adeniyi Pushes for Internal Overhaul At 2025 CGC Conference in Abuja

Adeniyi Pushes for Internal Overhaul At 2025 CGC Conference in Abuja

Kathy Kyari

The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, on Thursday tasked senior officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to confront long-standing institutional weaknesses, warning that the Service cannot uphold its rising international reputation without fixing its internal structures.

Speaking at the opening of the 2025 Comptroller-General of Customs’ Conference at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, Adeniyi said the theme, “Building Future Partnerships: Lessons from the Customs-PACT Conference” was deliberately chosen to ensure that the discipline and coordination demonstrated at the just-concluded continental summit are replicated within the Service.

The CGC reminded officers that the NCS had only a day earlier wrapped up the landmark Customs Partnership for African Cooperation in Trade (C-PACT) Summit, which brought together customs chiefs, private-sector leaders and regional blocs from across Africa in Abuja.

Adeniyi cautioned that while the Service’s external engagements continue to draw regional and global acclaim, its internal processes must not lag behind.

“You cannot sustain external credibility without internal integrity,” he said. “Turn the mirror inward and force honest conversations about what is working, what is failing, and what must change.”

He recalled the meticulous preparations that delivered the highly acclaimed C-PACT Summit—weekly coordination meetings for 16 consecutive weeks, unified messaging with AfCFTA structures, swift conflict resolution, and a shared determination to succeed because “failure was not an option with the world watching.”

The CGC said those principles must now become permanent features of Customs’ operating culture.

The conference featured panel sessions, technical presentations and open dialogues where, according to Adeniyi, “ideas matter more than rank,” as the Service intensifies efforts to strengthen institutional capacity and enhance operational effectiveness.