Customs CGC Adeniyi Signs Anti-Corruption Framework, Activates ICRAM Steering Committee

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 — 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, at the NCS Headquarters in Maitama, Abuja.

Adeniyi also formally activated the ICRAM Steering Committee, marking a major step towards institutionalising a structured system for identifying, assessing and addressing corruption risks across the Customs Service’s operational and administrative processes.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Comptroller-General said the documents were developed through extensive collaboration involving an internal NCS team, the World Customs Organisation (WCO), and partner administrations, including His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

He said the initiative was designed to make integrity a central component of Customs operations.

«“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,” Adeniyi said.»

According to him, the framework provides practical tools for Customs officers working at ports, borders and airports to identify corruption risks within their areas of responsibility and take targeted steps to mitigate them.

“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,” he added.

ICRAM Pilot Covered Seven Commands and Units

Earlier, the Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of the Strategic Research and Policy Department, Nafi’u Isyaku, led senior officers in presenting the documents and seeking approval for their full implementation across the Service.

The ICRAM methodology had previously been piloted in seven key commands and units, covering 66 processes across regulatory, core Customs and support functions.

The pilot locations included:

Sea Modality: Apapa Area Command

Air Modality: Murtala Muhammed Cargo (MMAC) and Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Commands

Land Modality: Seme Area Command

Specialised Units: Customs Police Unit Zone A, PAAR Ruling Centre and the Procurement Unit

The pilot exercise resulted in the development of a comprehensive Integrity Action Plan containing 101 Action Items and 295 Sub-Action Items.

The identified areas of intervention include increased automation, stronger supervision and accountability mechanisms, improved audit trails and traceability, clearer segregation of duties, regular staff rotation, targeted capacity-building and enhanced controls in interactions between officers and stakeholders.

With the activation of the ICRAM Steering Committee and the approval for wider implementation, the NCS is set to extend the corruption-risk mapping framework across its operations as part of efforts to strengthen institutional integrity and accountability.