HOW & WHY I EMERGED WCO COUNCIL CHAIRPERSON; THE IMPLICATIONS—CGC
The Comptroller- General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, has dedicated his electoral victory as the Council Chairperson of the World Customs Organization (WCO)in Brussels, Belgium to the men and officers of the service whom he lauded for their commitment and sacrifice to make the Customs a better place.
“It would be recalled that on June 28th, 2025, the 185- member nations of the WCO unanimously elected Adeniyi to chair the prestigious council which is the highest decision- making organ of the global customs organization.
Adeniyi, the first Nigerian to rise to such global eminence in global customs community, was unanimously elected at the end of the 145/146 WCO Council meeting held in Brussels, Belgium.
However, talking for the first time on his rare electorial victory, Adeniyi revealed his journey to becoming the number one Customs officer in the world. In what looks like a roller coaster journey, the CGC revealed how he was adopted as a sole candidate from the West and Central African region, according to Eyewitness News.
“And when the journey started, it started
at the level of the West and Central African region, which has only 23 members. “And at our regional meeting, I was unanimously proposed and eventually nominated as the sole candidate for the region.
“Then following on the heel of that was that other regions also conveyed their decision to appoint me as the sole candidate. “I think four sub-regions did that before we got into process for the council meeting. “And the council election was to hold on the last day. And words came to me that during the four-day meeting, the days before the election itself, the EU, the European sub-region had also confirmed me.
“So leaving only one region by Saturday morning. “And by Saturday morning, the candidates from Asia Pacific, we also understood, have stepped down, leaving the road clear for me” Adewale disclosed his smooth ascension to the pinnacle of his Customs career.
He then gave the implications of his election as it affects the Nigeria Customs Service.
“So what does this tell us? This means that the global customs community is noticing what is going on in Nigeria. “It means that it has endorsed the reforms that we have been undertaking, the modernization that we have undertaken.
“Most importantly, the use, the operational use that we have made of the various WCO tools and instruments. “Tools like Advanced Ruling, tools like Authorized Economic Operator, tools like the Time- Release Study (TRS) to measure the time and cost of doing business.
“So it’s a validation (his election) that we are right on course in our modernization journey.
“And we are full of appreciation for the international community. ” And I must also be full of appreciation to the business community in Nigeria, to officers and men of the Nigeria Customs who have welcomed the reforms with open hands and have ensured implementation of those reforms.
“Are we there yet? I would say yes, we are right on course, but we are not there yet. “It is a process and it will mean that the global best practices that apply in advanced countries, in advanced customs administrations will remain a model for us that we must aspire to all the time.
“We must make more use of integrating automation into our processes. We must allow risk management to drive our operations.
“We must make better use of intelligence.
We must deploy non-intrusive technology instruments, scanning machines, and all of that into our operations. “And as we do that, we will rely on the cooperation of all our stakeholders.
“One major issue that we are facing now is the challenges that we have faced in the integration and migration of our system from the former legacy system, NICICll into the B’Odogwu system. “Like I always say, any such integration, any such migration is a fundamental shift. It represents a major leap from one system to another.
“And therefore, we have experienced a number of teething problems. And one of the things that I’m doing in Lagos will be to engage with all the relevant stakeholders to listen to their
complaints. “I understand there are so many of them, to listen to their complaints and to see
how much we can allow innovation and technology to lead the way in ensuring smooth operations.
“So, we will be willing to listen to them, and our team will be here to take on board their suggestions, such that the initial teething problems and difficulties that we are facing will be a thing of the past.
“I dedicate this election victory to all officers and men of Nigeria Customs Service, who are all day and night behind me to ensure that we have one piece of reform that is dedicated to making customs a better place than we make it.