The comptroller-general of customs, Bashir Adeniyi, has said that establishing the Lagos Free Zone Green Channel would make Nigerian ports more competitive and reduce the cost of doing business.

Adeniyi made this known during the inauguration of the LFZ Channel at Ibeji-Lekki, in Lagos, on Wednesday.

He said that port competitiveness would culminate in higher revenue collection for customs.

Mr Adeniyi said that, from past experience, at larger ports, due to a lack of coordination, customs officers faced challenges when searching for containers that were positioned for examination.

According to him, the Green Channel intervention will help move containers, right from the vessel, into dedicated places where customs officers can access them.

Mr Adeniyi said a container moving to the Green Channel could be physically monitored, adding that the service was convinced the initiative should be given the opportunity to manifest.

“Customs trade facilitation is to ensure that they reduce the time of doing business in Nigerian ports, and what you are seeing today speaks exactly to that. The channel is to ensure that container-laden vessels are brought down immediately, and are taken to the place where examination will be done,” he said.

Mr Adeniyi said that the inauguration was a product of trust, adding that “our stakeholders have trust in us, and the confidence that we also have in them, that they will do it with the spirit of compliance and trade facilitation.”

Explaining how the Green Channel works, he said the cargo would link a modern seaport and be discharged directly into a free zone through an expedited customs corridor, while the channel creates a truly port ecosystem.

The managing director of Lagos Free Zone, Adesuwa Ladoja, lauded the Nigerian Customs Service for the initiative, which she said would enhance trade facilitation and operational efficiency.

“Approval of the Green Channel by the Nigerian Customs Service is a testament to the confidence reposed in Lagos Free Zone as an organisation that is deeply committed to the progress of ease of doing business in Nigeria.

“We believe that this collaboration with Lekki Port, Lekki Freeport Terminal and Nigeria Customs Service is evidence of the strong collaboration between the private and public sector in Nigeria, which is improving cargo flow, transparency, and ease of doing business in Nigeria,” Ms Ladoja said.

The director of finance and operations at LFZ, Ashish Khemka, disclosed that it had been positively impacting the Nigerian economy. Mr Khemka said the zone also contributed significantly to revenue generation in 2025, adding that it was the largest port in Nigeria.

(NAN)