Abuja: An advocacy group, the Customs Consultative Committee (CCC), has announced its support for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in its efforts to reduce clearance time by 40% through enhanced digital integration. The Secretary of the CCC, Dr. Eugene Nweke, shared this information during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the NCS’s Comptroller-General, Bashir Adeniyi, recently shared the results of a Time Release Study (TRS) conducted at the Tincan Island Port. The study, supported by the World Customs Organisation (WCO), was revealed during the 2026 World Customs Day on January 26. The TRS is a tool used to measure cargo clearance time at ports and borders, identifying delays to improve efficiency. The findings suggested that by coordinating efforts among stakeholders, clearance time could be cut by 40%, potentially saving three trillion Naira in demurrage and other related costs.
Dr. Nweke noted that the TRS, which has the endorsement of the WCO, presents a strategic opportunity for Nigeria to transition from merely measuring trade operations to making impactful changes. He assured that the CCC would support the NCS in achieving these ambitious goals.
Nweke emphasized that the TRS should be perceived as a diagnostic tool rather than a fault-finding mission, providing process intelligence rather than attributing institutional blame. When effectively utilized, the TRS empowers leadership to prioritize significant reforms, protect decision-making from unsubstantiated criticism, and base policy choices on verifiable data.
He further explained that the TRS aligns with the customs Comptroller-General’s core reform priorities, which include trade facilitation through objective measurement of clearance time, and revenue assurance by fostering predictability and voluntary compliance. The study also supports the focus on port efficiency by identifying systemic drivers of dwell-time and promoting measurable improvements in business processes.
Nweke highlighted that the success of the TRS is dependent on the institutional response, including policy refinement, process simplification, optimization of automation, enhanced inter-agency coordination, and structured stakeholder compliance education. Without this comprehensive approach, even the most robust data could become a missed opportunity.
He suggested that integrating TRS findings into management scorecards and Key Performance Indicators could enhance revenue performance, improve accountability, and strengthen reporting channels to the Presidency, Ministry of Finance, and international partners.
NAN reports that while unveiling the TRS, the NCS Comptroller-General described it as a significant step towards making Nigeria’s trade gateways secure, efficient, predictable, and globally competitive. He expressed the intention to institutionalize the TRS as a regular diagnostic tool for ongoing monitoring, learning, and reform in future cycles.