Nigeria Customs Service launches official WhatsApp Channel, says it cost Zero funds

On Sunday, the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, announced the launch of its official WhatsApp Channel to complement its official X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram pages.

According to the NCS, the new development aims to “combat scams and provide the general public with authentic information about our service.”

Nonetheless, the NCS, which, out of its statutory functions, is mandated to intercept contraband such as illegal drugs and weapons, was recently exposed to the contrary in an investigative report by Fisayo Soyombo in February 2024.

While ignoring these reports, Nigerians have questioned the NCS’s continued silence on the allegations and the cost of launching another e-channel.

West Africa Weekly contacted NCS through one of its channels, and a representative named Cynthia Ikebudu responded, “Please write to us via our official email address, [email protected], for a reply. Thank you.”

In a subsequent follow-up, the NCS said, “Okay, but note that ‘zero funds were used for WhatsApp.’ It is an app and not some kind of project that warrants funds, let alone public funds.”

Meanwhile, the NCS Comptroller-General, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, presented the Service’s 2024 budget on 5 February 2024 to the Nigeria Senate Committee on Customs at the National Assembly, and the Committee approved the sum of N5.079 trillion 10 days later.

In the 2024 budget, the committee approved (pg. 27) the sum of N5.079 trillion naira as a revenue target and N706.4 billion as budget for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

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Mayowa Durosinmi

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M. Durosinmi is a West Africa Weekly investigative reporter covering Politics, Human Rights, Health, and Security in West Africa and the Sahel Region

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