About N1.002 trillion was generated between January and September 2019 by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). This is according to data from the Department of Research and Statistics.
The data, which was also confirmed by the NCS’s Public Relations Office, indicated that the revenue was generated from 32 commands.
Breakdown: According to the report, the service recorded the highest revenue of N123.6 billion in the month of July followed by N118.6 billion realized in May.
The lowest revenue was recorded in the month of February with N86.3 billion which was said to be due to the closure of borders during the period of the 2019 General Elections.
The statistics recorded that Apapa Area Command generated the highest revenue of N313.5 billion within the period under review. It also indicated that immediately after the partial closure of borders, the service recorded N115.6 billion in September, with about N6.1 billion more than what was realised in August before borders were closed.
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What you should know: This shows that the border closure has its advantages as it led to an increase in the customs’ revenue. The customs revenue is a collation of import duty, levy, excise duty, amongst other fees.
There were predictions that there would be a major increase in the revenue generated by the customs service by the end of this year from the N1.2 trillion which was recorded in 2018.
Recall that the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Hameed Ali, disclosed in a report by Nairametrics, that the agency collected N9.2 billion in one day and subsequently had been raking in between N4.7 billion and N5.8 billion daily.
This he said was as a result of the border closure exercise initiated by the Federal Government. Ali had termed the closure as a blessing as the service revenue increased.