No less than N1.341 trillion was generated by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) as revenue for the year 2019. This means that the service exceeded its target of N937 billion by N404 billion.
The amount generated, which has been attributed largely to the land border closure policy of the Federal Government, is also N139.24 billion more than the N1.20 trillion generated in 2018.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by the Public Relations Officer, Deputy Comptroller of Customs, Joseph Attah.
Comptroller-General of Customs, Col, Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd) commented on the record achieved by the NCS, stating that it was as a result of the uncompromising pursuit of the service in doing what is right for the nation. He said the revenue generation of the service had been on the rise annually largely due to the strategic policies of the ongoing reforms in the service.
The Customs boss said the policies involved the strategic deployment of officers strictly using the standard operating procedure, strict enforcement of extant guidelines by the tariff and trade department, and the automation of the Customs process thereby, eliminating vices associated with the manual process.
[READ MORE: Nigerian Customs: Apapa Command recorded N40.6 billion FoB in 2019)
Ali said that other strategic policies include robust stakeholder sensitization, resulting in more informed/voluntary compliance, increased disposition of officers and men to put national interest above selves.
Addressing the impact of ongoing border closure on port activities, Ali stated that there were lots of advantages. He said cargoes that could have been smuggled through the borders to come through the sea and airports, raised revenue collection from ports.
“Before the commencement of the border drill on 20th August 2019, revenue generation was between N4bn to N5bn but now NCS generates between N5bn to N7bn daily.
“The partial border closure is decisive action against the challenging issue of trans-border crime and criminalities, fueled by the noncompliance to ECOWAS Protocol on transit of goods by neighbouring countries,” he told Daily Trust.
Meanwhile, in a recent Nairametrics report, the Apapa Command of the Nigerian Customs Service disclosed that it recorded N40.6 billion as Total Free On-Board Value for the exports it processed in 2019.
