By Suleiman Aremu | Solaremnews | Thursday 8, October, 2026
The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adewale Adeniyi, has signed key anti-corruption documents and directed their immediate implementation across all zones, commands and units of the Service.
The documents, comprising the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Conducting Internal Corruption Risk Analysis and Mapping (ICRAM), the ICRAM Handbook and the Integrity Action Plan (IAP), were signed on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, during a ceremony at the NCS Headquarters in Maitama, Abuja.
As part of the milestone, CGC Adeniyi also formally activated the ICRAM Steering Committee, reinforcing the Service’s systematic approach to identifying, assessing and mapping corruption risks across its operational and administrative processes.
A statement issued by the Service said the initiative was designed to strengthen integrity within the Customs administration by providing officers with practical tools to identify corruption vulnerabilities and implement targeted measures to address them.
Speaking during the ceremony, Adeniyi said the documents were the outcome of a painstaking process involving an internal team of the NCS, the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and partner Customs administrations, including His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
“These two documents are products of a painstaking process which we have undertaken with efforts from an internal team working together with our partners from the WCO and a number of other Customs administrations that have walked this path with us to ensure that we have a Service where integrity leads,” he said.
The Comptroller-General explained that the new framework would enable Customs officers working at ports, borders and airports to identify and map corruption risks within their respective areas of responsibility.
According to him, the approach would also provide officers with the capacity to implement specific action plans aimed at preventing corruption and strengthening integrity within the system.
“We want to believe that we have laid a practical step, very easy to follow, for all our operatives at the ports, the borders, and the airports, to be able to conduct corruption risk mapping in their places, giving them the opportunity and capacity to implement the action plan to instil integrity in our system,” Adeniyi added.
Earlier, the Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of the Strategic Research and Policy Department, ACG Nafi’u Isyaku, led senior officers to present the documents to the Comptroller-General and sought approval for their full rollout across the Service.
The ICRAM methodology had earlier undergone a pilot exercise in seven key Commands and Units of the NCS before its formal launch.
The pilot covered 66 processes across regulatory, core Customs and support functions, providing the Service with an opportunity to test the methodology across different operational environments.
Under the sea modality, the Apapa Area Command participated in the pilot, while the air modality covered the Murtala Muhammed Cargo (MMAC) and Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Commands.
The Seme Area Command represented the land modality, while three specialised units — the Customs Police Unit Zone A, PAAR Ruling Centre and the Procurement Unit — also participated in the exercise.
The pilot exercise subsequently produced a comprehensive Integrity Action Plan containing 101 Action Items and 295 Sub-Action Items designed to address identified corruption risks and strengthen institutional controls.
The action areas include increased automation of Customs processes, stronger supervision and accountability mechanisms, improved audit trails and traceability, and clearer segregation of duties.
Other measures contained in the plan include regular staff rotation, targeted capacity-building and training, as well as improved controls governing interactions between Customs officers and stakeholders.
The activation of the ICRAM Steering Committee and the directive for immediate implementation of the documents across all NCS formations are expected to provide a structured framework for embedding corruption-risk assessment and integrity measures into the Service’s day-to-day operations.
The initiative further underscores the NCS’s emphasis on institutionalising preventive measures against corruption by identifying potential vulnerabilities within its processes and addressing them before they undermine Customs operations.
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