The Nigeria Customs Service has unveiled a Digital Vehicle Verification Platform (DVVP) designed to curb the proliferation of smuggled vehicles and improve border security, officials announced Friday.
“Today marks an important milestone as we head into our ongoing drive to modernise the operations of the Nigeria Customs Service. We are hoping to build our progress on collaboration with the private sector, consolidation of our previous gains, and the delivery of innovative solutions to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness. The launch of the customs verification management system today is a clear demonstration of that strong commitment.
“This platform redefines how vehicle verification is conducted across our customs ecosystem and across the length and breadth of Nigeria. For years, verification of imported vehicles relied on fragmented and outdated methods, systems that left room for misinformation, for fraud, leakage, costing the country significantly, and as we saw in the drama, leading to a lot of frustration.
“Recognising the urgency for change, the Nigeria Customs Service, in partnership with the trade modernisation projects and our indigenous technical partners, has developed an innovative homegrown solution to this challenge. With CVMS, we are introducing a simple, seamless, and secure way to verify vehicle duty payment status,” Adeniyi said.
In his remarks he stated: “Smuggled vehicles have long denied us billions in revenue. With this platform, every vehicle can be authenticated in real time.”
The new system will allow customs, importers, and law enforcement to verify vehicle records against a national database.
The DVVP is expected to integrate with international vehicle registration systems and require importing dealers to register vehicles before clearance. Non-compliant vehicles will be flagged and subjected to further inspection.
