The Apapa Command of Nigeria Customs Service has collected N676b as revenue for the Federal Government between January and August 2023.
This was disclosed by Auwal Baba Mohammed, Assistant Comptroller General of Customs while handing over to Comptroller Babajide Jaiyeoba, the newly deployed Customs Area Controller in Lagos.
While urging officers of the command to rededicate themselves to service and surpass government expectations of them for revenue collection, prevention of smuggling and trade facilitation, Mohammed applauded them for the feats they achieved together when he was the Area Controller.
The immediate past Controller disclosed that teamwork, diligence and zero compromise assisted in several revenue and other operational successes the command recorded under his watch .
He Apapa Command collected it’s highest monthly and daily revenue in August 2023. According to him a total of N136b was collected as monthly revenue in August while N10b was collected on 3rd of August 2023 being the highest monthly and daily collections in the history of the Nigeria Customs Service.
Mohammed, who has assumed office at the Customs headquarters as ACG Technical Services urged the officers to continually prevent smuggling or importation of prohibited items. According to him, the port is critical to the economy and national security and he stressed that import and export prohibition lists should be adhered to at all times.
He listed some of the seizures made within the eighth months to include N21.6b worth of tramadol packed in 720 cartons containing 143.8million units of 225 miligram tablets and weighing 10.3 tonnes and the hand over of another 20 cartons of illicit drugs valued at N1.4b to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency(NDLEA)
He commended his officers’ vigilance for uncovering and seizing two pistols hidden inside a groupage container while advising importers and their agents to keep abreast with federal government guidelines on items that requires end user certificate to ensure compliance and due diligence before embarking on Importation.
On the use of technology for trade facilitation, the ACG said Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System (NICIS ll) depends on true and proper declaration to work well adding that acts like false declaration accounts for most delays traders go through in the port.
The former Apapa Customs Controller said deployment of scanner has improved operations at the port as an average of 120 containers are scanned daily as against 50 hitherto that were being examined at the earlier stage
He reminded the officers in his valedictory speech that the federal government has high expectations of them as the NCS,according to him,is strategic to non oil revenue drive by government and national economic sustenance.
He urged exporters to take advantage of the various incentives made available by government including the Domestic Export Warehouse (DEW) and other initiatives put in place by government that allow cargoes to seamlessly access the port and be loaded into vessels without going through multiple checks and reopening of containers
Jaiyeoba,the new Area Controller of Apapa thanked the Acting Controller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi for the task with an assurance to build on the achievements of his predecessor in the area of revenue, trade facilitation, anti smuggling and promotion of customs community relations.
He solocited the cooperation and support of all port users and promised to operate an open door policy in ensuring that all trade disputes are resolved in record time
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