- The journey of the new Customs boss…
History was made on June 19, 2023, when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed Adewale Bashir Adeniyi as the acting Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) ending the 8 years reign of a non-Customs officer as CG.
Until his appointment on Monday, Adeniyi was the Deputy Comptroller-General (DCG) in charge of Strategic Research and Policy at the Customs Headquarters in Abuja.
Adeniyi joined the Nigeria Customs Service over three decades ago, and had served the NCS in different capacities, including being the longest-serving National Public Relations Officer of Customs from June 2003 to May 2011; almost two decades until January 2017 when he was redeployed to the Apapa Area Command as a Deputy Comptroller.
He was promoted to the rank of Comptroller in 2017 and appointed Deputy Commandant of the Nigeria Customs Command and Staff College, Gwagwalada, Abuja where he pioneered the commencement of the Command and Staff Courses.
In 2019 he was redeployed to serve as the Controller of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Command, Lagos.
He was promoted to the rank of Assistant Comptroller General in February 2020 shortly after he supervised the seizure of $8.07 million cash being illegally taken out of Nigeria through the E-Wing of the international airport tarmac. He was subsequently posted to head the Nigeria Customs Command and Staff College, Gwagwalada, Abuja as Commandant.
In recognition of his service, former President Muhammadu Buhari, on October 11, 2022, conferred the national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) on him.
He is currently Vice President of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (FNIPR).
