REVISITING THE E-CUSTOMS PROJECT  

There is urgent need to look into the e-customs project

For Nigeria, the E-Customs Project is supposed to be a landmark initiative by the federal government to provide a digital platform for holistic automation of customs processes covering administration, payments, border management, import, export, and transit processing. The aim is to migrate the Nigeria Customs Service (NSC) operations to paperless systems. Unfortunately, a project that aims to instil transparency and accountability is at risk because of inability to stick to rules.  Curiously, at the twilight of the Muhammadu Buhari administration in April, the FEC gave a fresh approval to another company as a concessionaire, despite the subsisting contract and the ongoing court case about its enforcement. The former Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba, feigned ignorance on the matter.  

The story began in 2015, when the ‘NCS Modernisation Project’ was conceived and developed as a qualification evaluation, based on pass-fail criteria for bidding companies. The presidency adopted the project as its initiatives on ‘Custom Modernisation Project (Establishment of a digital/paperless customs administration).’ The evaluation summary covered financial capability, eligibility, presentation content, and experience. The NCS hosted presentations from 94 companies, ending with an offer to Bionica Technologies (WA) Limited “to partner with the NCS by direct capital investment to modernise the scanners and ICT infrastructure of the NCS”. While the financial consultants of Bionica prepared the economic model in cooperation with the Africa Finance Corporation and First Bank, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) and other government transaction advisers endorsed it. At the end of these processes, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) gave the green light to Bionica in September 2020.   

However, the former Comptroller General of Customs, Hameed Ali, had a different idea as he, along with the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) officials brought in another contractor to execute the same project. They sidelined the extant approval issued by the FEC for the E-Customs Project and contracted a new SPV named Trade Modernisation Project Limited (TMPL) to handle the project. This came almost two years after FEC approval and alleging “recalcitrance” on the part of Bionica, amid speculations that the project is ceding responsibilities of the Customs Service to private contractors. But this raises a serious question: Why should Customs override FEC approval without cancelling the previous one by the President-in-Council?    

For years, the country’s ports remain enmeshed in corruption and inefficiency. Due to incessant breakdown of equipment such as scanners for examination of imported goods, many containers bearing dangerous goods including illicit drugs and guns find their way easily into the country, and in the process endangering everyone. Thus, besides improving Customs’ clearance efficiency and trading facilitation and stemming tax and duties’ evasion, the e-Customs project will enhance national security through the development of systems and networks aimed at prevention and suppression of smuggling activities. In obvious choice for peace and path of prosperity for the nation and ease of doing business, the acting NCS Comptroller General, Adewale Adeniyi, said recently of the need to find way around the issue.

Indeed, the country has paid dearly for many legal battles occasioned by faulty contractual agreements. The Ajaokuta Steel contractual disputes that dragged on for decades, and the ongoing Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) dispute are unfortunate examples. It is worrying that the E-Customs project could be another unpleasant one in the making.  Many red flags around the modernisation project require the scrutiny of the President Bola Tinubu administration to straighten immediately. It must show more than a passing interest in the venture where Nigeria stands to reap huge revenue. The project should be investigated to ensure the sanctity of Nigeria’s contracts and agreements. A country with a crippled economy cannot afford to fritter away resources it does not have on expensive legal battles.