The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has denied claims that importers or clearing agents are required to pay fees to migrate their Form M from the Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System (NICIS) II to the newly introduced B’Odogwu Trade Management System.
The clarification was made in a statement issued on 11th July 2025 by Assistant Comptroller Abdullahi Maiwada, the National Public Relations Officer, on behalf of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR.
Maiwada explained that the migration process is part of a phased technical transition initiated by the Service to ensure the continuity of trade documentation as the B’Odogwu platform is deployed across Customs Area Commands.
“For clarity, the ongoing migration process is a technical and administrative task designed and implemented by NCS to ensure seamless continuity of trade documentation following the phased deployment of the B’Odogwu system across Customs Area Commands.
It is worth noting that at no point has the NCS introduced, approved, or authorised any fee for migrating Form M from NICIS II to B’Odogwu,” they stated
Guidelines for traders and agents
Importers and agents whose Bills of Lading (BoL) or manifests have already been transferred to the B’Odogwu platform, but whose Form M remains registered on NICIS II, are required to submit a soft copy of their existing Form M to the Technical Supervisor (TS) at their Area Command.
According to NIS, the submission will enable the Service to carry out the necessary migration at no cost to the trader.
After a successful migration, the trader is to:
- Log in to the B’Odogwu dashboard
- Locate the already migrated “registered” Form M
- Click to view full details
- Use the “Create PAAR” button that appears to begin PAAR processing
In the statement, the Customs Service warned stakeholders to be wary of fraudulent individuals or groups soliciting money under the pretext of assisting with the migration.
“The Service urges all stakeholders to disregard any person or group demanding payment under the guise of facilitating Form M migration.
Such practices are not only illegal but also undermine the Service’s commitment to transparency and trade facilitation,” they said.
Victims or witnesses of such misconduct are encouraged to report them via official NCS communication channels.
What you should know
B’Odogwu is a new computer system created by the Nigeria Customs Service to help manage how goods come into the country. Before now, they were using an older system called NICIS II, which still involved a lot of paperwork and delays.
- With B’Odogwu, most of the work is now done online. This makes the process faster and more transparent, meaning people can see what’s going on and there’s less room for cheating or bribery.
- In March 2025, the NCS intrigated the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR), which helps speed up customs clearance by allowing goods to be assessed before they arrive in Nigeria. Form ‘M’ is an approval document required before businesses can import goods into the country.
- Form M is a document that anyone who wants to import goods into Nigeria must fill before the goods are shipped from another country. This form includes important information like the name of the importer, the type of goods, the quantity, how much they cost, and the country they are coming from.
It also helps the government check that the goods being imported are legal and that the importer pays the correct duties and taxes. It also helps control what is allowed into Nigeria and stops the smuggling of banned or harmful products.
