By Martha Agas

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has collected ₦1.75 trillion as revenue for the first quarter of 2025.

The Comptroller-General (C-G) of the service, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this in Abuja at a news briefing on its activities for the first quarter.

“I am proud to announce that we have exceeded this year’s target by ₦106.5 billion, achieving 106.47 per cent of our quarterly projection.

“This outstanding performance represents a substantial 29.96 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2024, where we collected ₦1.35 trillion.

“Our month-by-month analysis reveals even more encouraging details of this growth trajectory.

“January’s collection of ₦647. 88 billion not only surpassed its monthly target of ₦548.33 billion by 18.12 per cent , but also showed a remarkable 65.77 per cent year-on-year growth.

“February’s ₦540.11 billion exceeded its target by 1.3 per cent while achieving 19.97 per cent growth over 2024 figures.”

Adeniyi said that March maintained this positive trend with ₦563.52 billion, delivering 2.7 per cent above target and an 11.22 per cent improvement over March 2024.

He said that the service recorded 298 seizures, with a total Duty Paid Value (DPV) of ₦7.7 billion, which represented an increase of 78.41 per cent compared to the ₦4.32 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The achievement, he said,  was an indication of improved operational effectiveness.

The customs boss added that compared to the ₦9.59 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2024, the service observed a 19.70 per cent reduction in DPV.

According to him, the reduction is due to improved compliance, facilitated by sustained stakeholders’ engagements and the deterrent effect of the service’s enforcement activities.

“Rice remained the most prevalent seized commodity, with 159 cases involving 135,474 bags valued at ₦939.31 million.

“Petroleum products followed with 61 seizures totalling 65,819 litres (₦43.34million DPV).

“Of particular note were 22 narcotics interceptions valued at ₦730.75 million reflecting our intensified focus on combating drug trafficking.

“The service also recorded three high-value wildlife product seizures with a remarkable ₦5.65 billion DPV.”

Adeniyi stated that this underscored both the lucrative nature of the illegal trade and the NCS’s commitment to environmental protection under the extant international conventions.

The C-G said that other notable seizures included 13 cases of textile fabrics valued at ₦134.22 million DPV), five cases of retreaded tires.

He disclosed that they were all valued at ₦104.60 million DPV), with one pharmaceuticals case valued at ₦17.19 million DPV.

According to him, these comprehensive results demonstrate the service’s vigilance across all the categories of prohibited and restricted goods.

In the first quarter, he said, the NCS processed a total of 327,928 Single Goods Declarations for imports.

It also handled goods with a total mass of 4.91billion kilogrammes and a Cost, Insurance, and Freight value of ₦14.81 trillion. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Bashir Rabe Mani