Nigeria’s pursuit of robust non-oil revenue has received a monumental boost from one of its most historic trade gateways. The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Port Harcourt Area I Command, announced a record-shattering revenue collection of ₦33.753 billion in October 2025, marking the highest monthly intake in the Command’s history.
This surge is particularly significant when viewed against the historical backdrop of Nigerian port operations. Established during the colonial era primarily for coal export, Port Harcourt (Area I) is one of the nation’s foundational maritime trade centers, vital long before Lagos’s modern expansion. Yet, for decades, Customs operations across Nigeria, including at this crucial eastern port, have battled systemic issues like leakages, corruption, and technological deficits, often resulting in revenues falling short of potential. The current achievement suggests a strong turn, leveraging discipline and digitalization to overcome these entrenched historical challenges in revenue collection and trade facilitation.
The record-breaking figure represents a stunning 272 per cent increase over the ₦9.079 billion collected in the corresponding month of October 2024. Furthermore, the Command’s cumulative revenue from January to October 2025 reached ₦247.461 billion, a 51 per cent growth compared to the previous year. This performance is so dominant that the Command, led by Comptroller Salamat Atuluku, has already exceeded its annual target of ₦216 billion by over ₦31 billion with two months left in the year.
Comptroller Atuluku attributed the outstanding results not to chance, but to sustained strategic reforms and improved operational discipline. A key driver of this success is the deployment of the homegrown digital platform, the Unified Customs Management System—informally known as ‘Bodogwu’—which tracks and analyses revenue processes in real time, enhancing transparency and accountability.
This extraordinary performance underscores the growing role of the Customs Service in shoring up national finances, especially as the Federal Government attempts to diversify revenue streams away from reliance on volatile oil exports. Customs duties and levies are proving to be one of the most reliable sources of non-oil income, fueling essential national development projects like roads, schools, and security infrastructure. The Port Harcourt Command has set a new benchmark, demonstrating the potential for significant domestic revenue mobilization through strategic leadership, continuous staff capacity building, and the expanded use of automation tools to effectively curb smuggling and revenue leakages.
