Between January and August, the Nigeria Customs Service’s (NCS) Apapa Command brought in N676 billion for the federal government.
When handing over to Comptroller Babajide Jaiyeoba, the recently posted Customs Area Controller in Lagos, Assistant Comptroller General of Customs Auwal Mohammed made this statement.
Mohammed also challenged the command’s officers to renew their commitment to duty and go above and above what the government expected of them in terms of tax collection, smuggling prevention, and trade facilitation.
He praised them for the accomplishments they had made while he was the area controller.
“Several financial and other operational triumphs that the command recorded under my watch were made possible by teamwork, dedication, and zero compromise.
The month of August 2023 saw the highest monthly and daily revenue for Apapa command.
The greatest monthly and daily collections in the history of the Nigeria Customs Service, he claimed, were N136 billion in total collected as monthly income in August and N10 billion on August 3.
Mohammed, who had recently taken over as ACG Technical Services at the customs headquarters, urged the agents to constantly thwart the shipment of illegal goods.
He contends that because of the port’s importance to both the economic and the security of the country, import and export prohibition lists must always be followed.
Among the seizures he noted were N21.6 billion worth of tramadol that was found in 720 cartons, each containing 143.8 million 225-milligram tablets, and weighing 10.3 tonnes.
He added that another 20 cartons of illegal substances, worth N1.4 billion, were given to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
He praised the diligence of his officers for finding and seizing two weapons concealed within a groupage container.
In order to ensure compliance and exercise due diligence prior to beginning the importation process, he recommended importers and their agents to stay up to date with federal government standards on goods that need an end user certificate.
Regarding the use of technology to speed up trade, Mohammed stated that the Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System (NICIS) I needs accurate and correct declarations in order to function properly, and that actions like making false declarations are to blame for the majority of delays that traders encounter in the port.
The former Apapa Customs Controller said that the installation of scanners had enhanced port operations because, as opposed to the 50 containers that were previously being reviewed at an earlier stage, 120 containers are now scanned everyday on average.
The NCS was crucial to the government’s reliance on non-oil revenue and the maintenance of the national economy, and he reminded the officers that the federal government had high expectations of them.
He advised exporters to make use of the Domestic Export Warehouse (DEW) and other government programs that allow cargoes to easily enter the port and be loaded onto vessels without having to undergo numerous checks and container reopenings.
Jaiyeoba, the newly appointed area controller for Apapa, asked for the assistance and cooperation of all port users and pledged to maintain an open door policy in order to ensure that all trade disputes are settled quickly.
He expressed his gratitude to Adewale Adeniyi, the temporary controller general of customs, for taking on the assignment and pledged to build on his predecessor’s successes in the areas of revenue, trade facilitation, anti-smuggling, and the strengthening of customs community relations.
