By Ayomide Otitoju
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has clarified that it does not determine or alter foreign exchange rates used in import and export valuation, stating that it relies solely on official figures transmitted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In a statement issued by its National Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Maiwada, the Service said recent public commentary on forex pricing, investor reactions and customs valuation necessitated an explanation of the operational framework guiding its digital clearance platform.
Maiwada noted that the reported exchange rate of ₦1,451.63/US$ for February 6, 2026, did not originate from the NCS system.
“That figure was sourced from trade.gov.ng, a legacy public trade information portal that does not reflect live Customs processing data,” the statement said.
According to him, all exchange rates used for trade processing are automatically integrated into the Service’s Unified Customs Management System, known as B’Odogwu, which serves as the sole official platform for customs declarations, clearance and valuation.
He explained that exchange rates are received electronically from the apex bank and applied uniformly across commands nationwide to ensure transparency, predictability and compliance with statutory fiscal and monetary policies.
The spokesman emphasised that the NCS does not generate, manipulate or apply margins to exchange rates under any circumstances, noting that the B’Odogwu platform operates structured data-integration protocols designed to ingest and apply exchange-rate feeds exactly as transmitted by the CBN.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Nigeria Customs Service does not independently determine, generate, alter, or apply margins to foreign exchange rates used for import and export valuation. All exchange rates applied within the B’Odogwu platform are official rates electronically transmitted by the Central Bank of Nigeria, which remains the competent authority for exchange rate determination under Nigeria’s monetary framework,” Maiwada added.
