Apapa, Tincan, FOU zone ‘A’ .Commands behind Customs outstanding revenue in 2018 …Their enormous contributions to CGC Ali’s success story …Stakeholders call for more inputs in trade facilitation

(SUNDAY NEWS ANALYSIS SEGMENT-One)

 Apapa, Tincan, FOU zone ‘A’

.Commands behind Customs outstanding revenue in 2018

.Their enormous contributions to CGC Ali’s success story

.Stakeholders call for more inputs in trade facilitation

By Udeme Clement

As Nigeria Customs Service ,NCS, under the supervision of Comptroller General of Customs ,CGC, Hameed Ali achieves huge revenue increase in the first quarter of 2018, stakeholders in the maritime sector of the economy are commending the tremendous contributions of various Customs Commands that  performed remarkably despite challenges facing Nigeria’s economy at present.

When Financial Business interacted with some stakeholders at Apapa port  during the week, on the level of revenue generation by NCS in the first quarter, Apapa, Tincan port and Federal Operations Unit ,FOU, Zone ‘A’ were listed as outstanding Commands behind the huge increased recorded by the Service.

While some maritime stakeholders described these Commands as the most vibrant in terms of revenue collection, anti-smuggling drive, enforcement, surveillance and operational efficiency, others called on the Commands and the Service as a whole to give more attention to trade facilitation, in order to stimulate economic growth and development.

 The Commands and their score cards in 2018:

‘Apapa Customs rakes in N81.7billion in 2018’

Apapa, which many importers and agents described as the biggest and premier port in the whole country raked in N81.7billion  in the period under review, notwithstanding the fact that the economy is just recovering from recession.

In a statement signed and made available to Financial Business from the Public Relations Officer ,PRO, Nwala, Nkeiruka Ijeoma, the Command also recorded revenue increase  of about N4. 3billion in the first quarter when compared to last year.

Her words: “The Customs Area Controller ,CAC, of the Command,  Comptroller Jibril Musa, the Enforcement Unit, the Unit under APM and other Units under Apapa have been working tirelessly to  raise the tempo of revenue collection for the Federal Government, which has reflected in the huge sum generation at present”.

“The N81.7billion when compared to N77. 4 billion revenue collected at the same period in 2017, shows increase of N4. 3billion. We are optimistic that with the roll out of Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System II ,NICIS II at Apapa, which is expected to block all revenue leakages, as well as repair of access roads, the Command will build on its revenue profile in the months ahead”.

Tincan Command records N76.7billion in 2018 :

Tincan that is known for its outstanding revenue collection realised a huge income flow of N76.7billion in the first quarter of 2018.

Remarkably, the Command recorded revenue increase of N14.9billion in the same period when compared to the previous year.

While delivering a paper on the ‘General Overview of the Command’, before a delegation led by ACG Charles Edike, the Customs Area Controller ,CAC, of Tincan  Comptroller Mohammed Abdullahi Baba Musa, attributed the outstanding performance in revenue generation to, ‘Innovations and reforms in re-jigging the consciousness of officers/men towards enhancing efficiency and productivity’.

His explanation, “The Command in the first quarter of 2017 (Jan – March) generated a total of N61.8billion, whereas in the corresponding period of 2018, we realised N76.7billion, signifying positive difference of N14.9billion.  Though the first quarter of each year is usually synonymous with low volume of trade, migration to NICIS II platform by the Command also contributed to some hiccups that affected declarations, but which we have surmounted”.

The CAC reiterated,   “We must ensure adequate measures are put in place to enable the Command be on top of its statutory mandate, with continuous stakeholder engagement, training and re-training of officers. Also, trade facilitation models will be leveraged on for service delivery”.

FOU Zone ‘A’ nets over N1.6billion in 3 weeks :

FOU Zone ‘A’, which is mainly an enforcement Unit performed remarkably in anti-smuggling, revenue generation and trade facilitation with the highest number of seizures and smuggled vehicles recorded in 2018.

The Unit rakes in N1.6billion in just three weeks of operations, from March 19^th to April 9^th, 2018, and arrested 10 suspects in connection with seized items.

 The Customs Area Controller ,CAC, of FOU, Comptroller Mohammed Uba disclosed , “The large number of seizures  recorded at this short period include 64 exotic vehicles, 6003 bags of foreign rice (equivalent to 10 trailers), 963 cartons of poultry products, 431 gallons of vegetable oil, 163 bales of used clothes, 569 used tyres and 69 bags of sugar among other items”.

Comptroller Uba pointed out, “Worthy of note is the evacuation of 2,671 bags of foreign rice, using nine hired trucks from nine makeshift storage facilities in Ilogbo, Abeokuta based on credible intelligence. The items were seized despite resistance.  The operation was led by the Lagos Roving Team along with other Teams from the Unit.”

In the same vein, from March 1 – 19, 2018, FOU recorded 89 seizures with a Duty Paid Value ,DPV, of over N2.5billion.  The Unit through intelligence arrested five suspects in connection with the seizures.

The items seized from March 1 – 19, 2018, by FOU include 16 exotic vehicles, mostly 2017 model, 12 trailers of foreign  rice, 1,172 cartons of poultry products, 1,352 jerrycans of vegetable oil, 72 bales of used clothes, 464 pieces of used tyres, 407 sacks of Pangolin scales and 629 bundles of textile materials among many others.

Remarkably at that period was the seizure of eight trucks laden with 3,351 bags of rice and 669 jerrycans of vegetable oil along Iseyin, Oyo/Osun axis.  The Unit also evacuated 1,253 bags of rice from a warehouse in Ogbomosho.

Also,  the Unit  evacuated 407 sacks of Pangolin scales weighing 10,263kg from a private home at 64 Opebi Road,  off Toyin street, Ikeja, Lagos.  The Pangolin attracted DPV of about N2billion.

The vehicles detained by FOU within that period include 2 Lexus Jeep (RS350 2016/2017 models), 1 Rolls Royce, 1 Lincoln Limousine (2014 model), 3 Toyota Camry (2009, 2013 and 2017 models), 1 Toyota Rav-4, 1 Toyota Avalon (2016 model), 1 Toyota Tundra, 1 Dodge among others. The 16 exotic vehicles alone attracted DPV of N340.7million.

The Unit left no stone unturned, as its operatives seized brewery trucks loaded with smuggled rice.

Watch Out FOR MORE REPORTS!!!

 .Commands behind Customs outstanding revenue in 2018

.Their enormous contributions to CGC Ali’s success story

.Stakeholders call for more inputs in trade facilitation

(This is the first segment of the analysis, the second part of the report will be published in our mid-week news on MMA, PTML and Oyo/Osun Commands).