Customs attribute N1.3trillion revenue to strict enforcement of extant laws *Records N62.1bn seizures

The Comptroller-General of Customs, CGC Ali Hameed, has attributed revenue collection of over N1.3 trillion in 2019 fiscal year to strict enforcement of extant guidelines by the Service.

The National Public Relations Officer of Customs, DC Joseph Attah, disclosed this to reporters.

Speaking on behalf of the CGC, he explained, “The N1.3 trillion realised is more than N937.2 billion target for 2019.

He informed, “The CGC described the feat as a result of resolute pursuit of what is right, rather than being populist by compromisng national interest.”

He pointed out, “The Service revenue collection profile continues to rise, as the on-going reforms in the Service insist on automation of Customs processes by eliminating bottlenecks associated with manual processes, robust stakeholders sensitisation resulting in more informed voluntary compliance.”

According to him, “The partial border closure forced cargoes that could have been smuggled through the porous borders to come in through the seaports, which increased revenue collection from N5 billion to about N7 billion daily.”

His position, “The border closure is a decisive action against the challenges of trans-border crimes fuelled by non-compliance to ECOWAS protocol on transit of goods by neighbouring countries”.

He enthused, “We give our assurances of total commitment to the course of nation building.”

More so, the Service within the same period under review recorded seizures of 30,906 assorted items with Duty  Paid Value of over N62.1 billion.

The items include arms, ammunitions, illicit drugs, used clothings, rice, poultry products, vegetable oil and others.