The Seme Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, on Monday, received the House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise, during an oversight visit, led by the Chairman, Right Honourable Leke Abejide.
While receiving the delegation, the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Dr. Ben Oramalugo, expressed deep appreciation for the Committee’s presence, describing it as a strong demonstration of their commitment to enhancing Customs administration, trade facilitation, and national revenue optimization.
Comptroller Oramalugo highlighted the strategic importance of the Joint Border Post (JBP) along the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor as a vital hub for regional trade, noting that export activities have notably improved with over 96,000 metric tonnes of goods with a Free On Board (FoB) value of N20,454,888,432.87k facilitated from January to March 2025.
Reiterating the Command’s dedication to embracing the JBP initiative, he listed the major goals of the JBP to include; fostering cooperation with the Republic of Benin, promoting intelligence sharing, and improving customs clearance through the one-stop border-post model.
Since assuming office on 11th February 2025, Comptroller Oramalugo has focused on four key mandates: revenue generation, trade facilitation, anti-smuggling operations, and inter-agency collaboration.
The Seme Customs boss noted that under his leadership, the Command has recorded significant achievements including: N1,986,395,565.86k revenue generated in the first quarter of 2025 through improved compliance, risk management, and enforcement.
In anti-smuggling, he disclosed that several seizures were made in the first quarter of 2025 including; petroleum products, narcotics, foreign rice, poultry, vehicles, foreign parboiled rice and more with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N855,700,524.00k.
Comptroller Oramalugo, however, outlined several operational challenges faced by the Command, including poor infrastructure, shortage of personnel and equipment, lack of power supply for over seven years in the entire Seme axis, and ocean encroachment.
He called for urgent government intervention, especially in technology deployment, environmental protection, and enforcement of contractual obligations on stalled projects.
Responding, the Chairman of the House Committee on Customs, Rt. Hon. Leke Abejide, reaffirmed the Committee’s resolve to critically assess the operations, revenue performance and capital projects in line with the 2023 and 2024 budgetary approvals.
“We are here to check your books, operations, and ongoing projects to ensure alignment with appropriated funds and to determine areas for retention or removal in the 2025 budget,” Hon. Abejide stated.
He emphasized the need for the Command to provide data on revenue performance in relation to targets, impact of E-Customs and digital platforms and efforts made in suppressing smuggling and promoting Nigeria’s trade competitiveness.
Furthermore, Hon. Abejide assured that the welfare of Customs officers is of equal priority, encouraging the Command to use the opportunity to present actionable needs for inclusion in the 2025 budget.
The visit concluded with mutual assurances of continued collaboration in strengthening the Nigeria Customs Service as a key driver of economic development, regional integration, and national security.
This information was disseminated via a press statement signed by the Command’s spokesman, CSC Isah Sulaiman.
