Northern group urges Tinubu to ensure stability in Customs

The Arewa Youths Advocate for Good Governance has called on President Bola Tinubu to implement a strategic and lawful intervention that would preserve stability within the Nigeria Customs Service to ensure that the remarkable gains recorded in recent years were not reversed.

The National Coordinator, of the group, Comrade Adamu Abdullahi, made the call during a news conference in Bauchi on Friday.

He advised that such interventions may include adopting a phased leadership transition, preserving critical institutional expertise where legally permissible, and ensuring that succession planning is driven by national interest rather than administrative timelines alone.

According to him, the group had painstakingly monitored the recent vacuum in the Nigeria Customs Service, and was concerned by the imminent retirement of a significant number of senior management officers within the same period which he said, was detrimental to the operational efficiency at a time when Nigeria could least afford such uncertainty.

“Nigeria is currently implementing far-reaching economic reforms under the Renewed Hope Agenda and at such a delicate stage, institutions responsible for revenue generation, trade facilitation, and border management must enjoy stability, policy continuity, and experienced leadership.

“The Nigeria Customs Service has evolved into one of the Federal Government’s strongest revenue-generating institutions. It is also at the forefront of combating smuggling, protecting Nigeria’s borders, facilitating legitimate trade, and supporting national security operations.

“A simultaneous exit of several experienced management officers, without a carefully managed transition strategy, could create avoidable leadership gaps, disrupt institutional memory, slow ongoing modernisation programmes, and affect operational efficiency at a time when Nigeria can least afford such uncertainty,” said the Coordinator.

According to him, history has shown that reforms succeeded when there was consistency in leadership, policy implementation, and operational direction, adding that Nigeria could not afford to interrupt the momentum already achieved in customs modernisation, revenue expansion, digital transformation, and border security management.

The group further called on the Presidency, the National Security establishment, the Federal Ministry of Finance, and other relevant stakeholders to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the potential implications of a mass leadership transition within the Service before irreversible decisions were made.

The group also commended President Tinubu’s commitment to institutional reforms, even as it insisted that it remained confident that the Tinubu administration would continue to prioritise decisions that strengthen the nation’s economic architecture and security framework.

“AYAGG stands ready to support every initiative aimed at preserving the operational efficiency, professionalism, and strategic capacity of the Nigeria Customs Service in the interest of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Abdullahi assured.