Zonal Coordinator in charge of Zone ‘A’ of the Nigeria Customs Service, Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) Charles Edike has commended officers in the Zone for their efforts and contributions towards the realization of the service overall revenue collection.
Zone ‘A’ houses the largest revenue generating commands of the Nigeria Customs Service, which last year recorded N903billion in 2015 out of a target of N954billion.
Edike who gave the commendation yesterday when he went on a working visit to Lilypond and Apapa commands in Lagos said despite the challenges of last year including the general elections and changes in government policies which affected volume of imports in the country, the Service was able to generate N903billion.
He said, “I came here to appreciate all you did last year. Last year was very trying for us in Customs. Election issue came up, thereafter exchange rate matter came up as we are battling to correct that, the issue of 41 items came up but in spite of all of these challenges, we still did what we did and that is why we have come to say thank you and we appreciate you.”
At Apapa command, Edike charged the officers not to rest on their oars but to redouble their efforts as the flagship command noting that the expectations from the Customs high command is higher now than ever before due to the decline in prices of oil in the global market.
He said no matter the challenges, officers must always look for solution by thinking outside the box in order to ensure that all revenue due government is collected.
“All those places that before now, you did not give attention to, give attention to those places now. Before you will be thinking that one kobo is too small for you to pursue but this year, one kobo is not too small for you to pursue,” he said.
He advised the officers to be guided by personal and collective integrity by avoiding questionable and unwholesome practices that would make agents see them as being corrupt.
He added that they should put away self interest but the interest of the nation’s first and be ready to make scarifies whenever the need arises.
At the Post-Clearance Audit (PCA) Unit of Customs, the Customs boss also urged the officers to be more efficient in the discharge of their duties.
Edike said that the PCA unit of customs would contribute tremendously to government’s revenue if the officers were up and doing.
“PCA jobs start immediately containers are released from the port by checking the system to see if the document were properly processed,” he said.
Controller Apapa Command, Comptroller Willy Egbudin, had earlier urged officers to support him in order to meet the command’s expectations.
Egbudin said that he would engage all stakeholders operating in Apapa port in constant dialogue for smooth operations.
Also speaking, Comptroller Bashir Abubakar, who is in charge of the PCA unit, said that he had reminded all officers under him about the need for zero tolerance for corruption in their operations.
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