The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) have reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring a successful rollout of the National Single Window (NSW) project in early 2026.
The commitment was renewed in a series of high-level meetings at the Customs Headquarters in Abuja, including a review meeting attended by key stakeholders on August 12, 2025.
The project, launched by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in April 2024, is a flagship initiative designed to simplify trade procedures, improve transparency, and deliver economic benefits to the nation.
At the review meeting, the Comptroller-General of Customs, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi; the Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Mr. Zacch Adedeji; and the Director of the NSW, Mr. Tola Fakolade, pledged to strengthen inter-agency collaboration.
The discussions centered on aligning integration timelines and ensuring that agencies are ready before the first-quarter 2026 deadline.
Similarly, Adedeji and Fakolade revisited Customs Headquarters for a follow-up session on September 16, 2025.
The FIRS boss expressed satisfaction with the pace of work and commended the Customs management for their cooperation.
He noted that the progress reflects a strong will to deliver on the President’s mandate.
“I can’t thank you all enough for the wonderful progress as I’m seeing everything being completed. This has become the official headquarters of the implementation. Nigeria Customs Service is playing host to the core implementation scheme of Single Window,” he stated.
On his part, Fakolade approved a joint venture for broad stakeholder engagement sessions to be held across the four zones of the country in October 2025, affirming that bi-weekly technical meetings would continue to address operational challenges and streamline integration processes.
“As part of the implementation of Single Window Project, there has been approval for the release of funds for the support of different MDAs, especially when it comes to IT infrastructure. We’d like to also gain approval to visit the various commands to figure out if there’s any support they might need so as to make this a reality,” he said.
In his remarks, CGC Adeniyi assured that the Service remains fully committed to the project, emphasising that Customs is not only meeting its technical responsibilities but also driving the broader vision of creating a seamless trade ecosystem.
“We are going to deliver on this mandate. At the rate that we are currently striking agreements on so many of these issues, I want to believe we would be right on target. I would like to reiterate our support for the build up towards the implementation of National Single Window,” he remarked.
Upon full implementation, the NSW is expected to streamline cargo clearance times, lower trade costs, prevent revenue loss, and enhance Nigeria’s global trade competitiveness.
