ACG Babandede Lauds Apapa Customs’ 2025 Performance, Stresses Integrity, Collaboration
Author: Ibe Wada.
The Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘A’, Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs (ACG) Mohammed Babandede, has commended the Apapa Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for its outstanding performance in revenue generation and anti-smuggling operations in 2025, urging officers to sustain high standards of integrity and deepen inter-agency collaboration in 2026.
Babandede gave the commendation on Thursday, 5 February 2026, during a working visit to the Command, describing the engagement as both an appreciation of past achievements and a morale-boosting exercise aimed at driving even better results in the new year.
He stressed that integrity and reputation management must remain central to Customs operations.
“Whatever you do, consider the nation and the Service. Integrity is key. Our bar is already high, particularly in trade facilitation, and that standard must not drop,” he said.
The ACG further called for sustained collaboration with sister agencies and strategic partners to enhance operational effectiveness and national security outcomes.
In his welcome address, the Customs Area Controller (CAC), Apapa Command, Comptroller Emmanuel Oshoba, disclosed that the Command recorded a landmark revenue collection of ₦2.93 trillion in 2025, representing a 24.32 per cent increase over the ₦2.36 trillion generated in 2024.
He attributed the growth to improved compliance, enhanced operational efficiency and the deployment of the Unified Customs Management System, also known as B’Odogwu.
On enforcement, Oshoba revealed that the Command intercepted 53 containers of illicit goods with a duty-paid value of ₦12.63 billion, including hard drugs and expired pharmaceutical products, which were handed over to relevant regulatory agencies such as the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
The CAC assured that the Command would prioritise deeper digitalisation, risk-based controls, intelligence-led operations and expanded collaboration in 2026, in line with the Comptroller-General of Customs’ policy thrust on consolidation, collaboration and innovation.
