The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Apapa Command, generated N413.7 billion as revenue from Jan. 1 to Dec. 19, the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Mohammed Abba-Kura has said.
Briefing journalists on its activities on Friday in Lagos, Abba-Kura said that the command had surpassed its revenue target of N372 billion for the year, which translated to 111 per cent performance.
“The year 2019 has been quite eventful for the Apapa Area Command and through our collective efforts and efficient strategies put in place we were able to achieve this feat.
“In achieving this feat, the complementary roles of units like the Customs Intelligence Unit (CIU) and Valuation Unit amongst others are specially acknowledged,” he said.
According to him, the command generated N404 billion in 2018 N413.7 billion in 2019.
He said that command generated the highest revenue figure of N42.7 billion at the peak of the border closure in October.
Abba-Kura said that revenue generated in October was a positive evidence of the impact the border closure had on smuggiing through the land borders and increased legitimate imports through the seaports.
The comptroller said that the command, during the period under review, seized a total of 112 containers of various items constituting contraband, fake and substandard goods.
“Most notable among these items are pharmaceuticai products which include tramadol that were imported without necessary approval from regulatory agencies like the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
“Other items inciude tomato paste, vegetable oil, ladies and girls fashion footwears, expired rice, armored glasses without End User Certificate (EUC) and drilling pipes labelled in foreign language etc.
“It is pertinent to emphasise here that virtually all the seized items are in gross vioiation of our extant laws and import guidelines. The Duty Paid Vaiue (DPV) for these seizures stood at N12.8 billion,” he said.
Abba-Kura said that in the area of export, the command recorded a total of 262,095.09 metric tonnes of exported goods with Free on Board value of $132.8 million (N40.6 billion).
He said that most of the exported items were agricultural and mineral products and appealed to exporters using Apapa port to always ensure that international standards are met to avoid the recurrent incidence of returned consignments.
“In our quest to deliver efficient service delivery to our esteemed stakeholders and in line with the Comptroller-General of Customs 3Rs mandate, the Command under my leadership came up with a deliberate and well coordinated strategy that trained over 400 officers. They were trained in general aspect of our operations with a view to maximising their productivity.
“The results we are seeing today is the product of the training, in addition to other mechanisms like 24 hours dispute resolution, maintaining an open and accessible door policy to address complaints. Others are constant engagement with the stakeholders as well as support by the management of the NCS and other sister agencies operating within the port,” he said.