Nigeria Customs Service (NCS)’s revenue generation has dropped, as volume of imports continue to fall at the nation’s seaports and borders. Statistics released by the Apapa and Tin Can Island port commands and other commands since the implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy on foreign exchange, auto policy and the recent ban on importation of rice, were said to be responsible for the drop in revenue in the first quarter.
The Apapa and Tin Can Island commands got N32 billion and N29 billion respectively as monthly revenue target, while the Seme Command was asked to generate N1.2 billion monthly.
However, statistics revealed that Customs lost N13 billion from Lagos Port where its generates largest revenue. Also, at Tin Can Island command, a revenue shortfall of N2.7billion was recorded in the first quarter of 2016.
Ton Can Island Public Relations Officer, Chris Osunkwo, said that the command generated N58.9billion in the first quarter of 2016, as against N61.6billion generated in the corresponding period of 2015.
Similarly, Seme Area command recorded a revenue shortfall of N1.5 billion between January and April. Public Relations officer of the command, Saleng Taupyen, explained that the command generated N3.3 billion within the corresponding period as against N4.8billion, going by its monthly target of N1.2 billion. According to the Controller of the Apapa 1 command, Comptroller Willy Egbudin, Customs generated a total of N61.7 as against N74.71 billion collected in the corresponding period of 2015, representing N13 billion decline.
He said: “If revenue collection continues to drop in flagship command of the Nigeria Customs Service, I wonder how other commands will get their own revenue. Apapa Area1 Command is the flagship of Nigeria Customs Service and if revenue generation from Apapa is going down, that means revenue generation, as a whole to the Customs will go down.
Egbudin said that stakeholders and the officers in Apapa command must fashion out a way of improving on its revenue. The controller said that vessels were now coming to the port with scanty number of containers and bulk cargoes, adding importers had been denied forex by the apex bank. Meanwhile, Customs at Seme Border Command has said in a statement that it had arrested 17 smugglers over 221 seizures with a total Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N180 million.
