By Stephen Ubanna
For much of August, 2025, the Leadership of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, had been at an undeclared war with the Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, under the close watch of Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, over the re-introduction of the 4% Free on Board, FOB, Levy.
The new levy which had replaced the 1% Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme, CISS, calculated based on the value of imported goods, including cost and transportation expenses up to the port of loading may have forced MAN to kick against it and insist on return to the status quo of duty collection at the seaports, airports and Land border posts.
Many believes that CGC Adeniyi, and his Management Team, which will soon have more new faces like Comptrollers Babatunde Olomu, Bello Ahmadou Shuaibu, Mohammed Babandede, Tenny Daniyan, could not have acted alone in the re-introduction of the scrapped levy as a way to boost the Service monthly revenue collection.
An insider had confirmed that Adeniyi led Management Team had taken the bold initiative to re-introduce the 4%FOB levy after stakeholders’ consultations and directive from the House Committee on Customs to do so.
It would be recalled that a Stakeholders’ Town Hall meeting on B’odogwu, an indigenous technology, which had replaced the Nigerian Integrated and Customs Information System, II, which was a foreign technological platform operated and managed by WEEB Fontaine, in Lagos, the nation’s Commercial nerve centre in July 2025, the Customs helmsman had hinted of plans to reintroduce the 4% FOB levy. He may have gladdened the heart of members of MAN and other importers with their agents, when he disclosed that both he 1%, CISS and 7% port level would be scrapped.
He had said that the intended revenue that would be collected from the new levy would be used to fund the Customs Modernization projects and technological advancements that is expected to impact positively on the clearance time at the entry point of imports across the country.
Barely one month of the collection of the 4% FOB levy on imports at the nation’ seaports, airports and Land border station, Segu-Ajayi-Kadir, Director General, MAN, who could not take it lamented that in implementing the levy designed to increase revenue for the NCS and the government, it has added additional burden to the Manufacturers and other categories of importers, who are already facing tough times due to harsh government policies : removal of fuel subsidy and unification of the official and parallel, popular, Black market exchange rates.
The MAN, Director General, who could not hide his feelings had said that the NCS, had set the stage for other relevant government agencies including the terminal operators and the shipping Companies to increase their port charges, which he had put at an unwarranted 15%, to further increase the burden on the Nigerian Manufacturers, particular, who are still struggling with the heavy import duty calculation rate and contending with an unprecedented rise in energy cost.
Given that the NCS, had started implementing the 4% FOB, levy collection, which MAN , Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, NAGAFF, National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, NCMDLCA and Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria, AFFLON, which had increased the cost of clearing cargoes at the port may have informed why there was backlog of uncleared cargoes at the Lagos port of Apapa, Tin-can Iland, Port Multi-services Terminal Limited, PTML, Kirikiri Lighter Terminal , KLT, Phases I and II and the south eastern ports of Onne, Rivers port, Port Harcourt, Warri and Calabar, Cross river state.
This may not have stopped Comptrollers Olomu of Apapa Command, Babandede, Onne, Daniyan, PTML, all newly appointed ACGs, Frank Onyeka, of Tin-can Island Command and other Area Controllers, from collecting the maximum revenue for the NCS and the FG, in the month of August, 2025.
This is evident going by the revenue that was collected by the Apapa Command on the B’Odogwu platform, in the month of August by the outgoing Compt. Olomu, now an ACG, decorated with the new rank, alongside others, at the Customs Headquarters on Sept. 2, 2025.
The outgoing Apapa Command Area Controller, had confirmed that the Command which had made N161,258,483,474.63 within the first three weeks of August, 2025 despite the back log of uncleared cargoes, that was paid into the Federation Account but hit the N215 billion mark at the tail end month as all areas revenue leakage were blocked as usual, using the Unified Customs Management system, UCMS, popular, B’odogwu.
He had said that the Command could to its track as the Customs Best in terms of trade facilitation and revenue collection because of ‘’the increased confidence and continuous improvement of the B’odogwu facility and thanked the stakeholders for their unrelenting support despite the challenges.
The Customs Comptroller, was said have thanked the industry stakeholders which includes MAN, for their belief in the B’Odogwu facility’s capacity to meet the expectations of the trading community, particular, those who do their import and export business through the premier port of Apapa, under the supervision of the Apapa Command, under his Leadership.
The outgoing Apapa Area Controller was said to have also given kudos to the officers and men of the Command for their resilience who were said to have kept the UCMS facility growing amidst challenges.
Determined to sustain the Apapa Command revenue generation records, may have informed why the Customs Comptroller General, has directed invigorated Service from the ICT/Modernisation Department of the NCS, Headquarters to the Command level, ‘’to ensure steady and sustained improvement in the B’odogwu delivery by prompt address of all glitches, listening to importers with their agents and any other complaint and providing necessary support for efficiency’’.
Although, he may be relocating to the Customs Headquarters’ soon, to take his position soon, he is optimistic that with the measures that had been put in place by the Command and the improvement on the B’odogwu system, the Command is fully out to surpass user expectations and gain more confidence to improve its revenue collection in the days and months ahead as all areas of revenue Leakage had been blocked using the Unified Customs Management system , UCMS, popular, B’odogwu.
While, the NCS, at the Command and National Level could smile to bank with its mouth watery revenue collection since the re-production of the 4% FOB, Levy, which MAN and other industry stakeholder had vehemently opposed on grounds that it would add to their burden and cost of clearing goods at the goods at the ports, airport and Land border ports, President Bols Ahmed Tinubu, may have made matters worse with the introduction of the 5% surcharge on locally produced and imported Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, popular, Petrol.
Based on the new Federal Government policy, the collection of the 5% surcharge is slated to take effect from January 1, 2026, with a revenue projection of N796 billion. The 5% surcharge on both locally and imported refined Petrol, going by reports making is not new, as it is contained in the Nigeria’s Tax Administration Act, being one of the four tax reforms that was said to have been passed by the National Assembly and signed into Law by President Tinubu on June 26, 2025.
The 5%, petrol surcharge and the Customs reintroduced 4% FOB, levy, according to informed sources, are part of the Tinubu’s Administration’s efforts to shore up revenue from the non-oil sector and promote fiscal sustainability amid mounting debt owed multi-lateral financial institutions including the World Bank/IMF and the Asian country of China.
President Tinubu, may have also been encouraged to introduce the 5% surcharge on locally refined and imported petrol and equally thrown his weight behind the NCS, tore-introduce the 4%, FOB, because of the crash of oil price in the international oil market linked to the ongoing Russian and Ukraine war, Israe-Iran conflict, tension between US an Venezuela, China and Taiwan in order to raise funds to run the government without running into crisis.
