Apparently worried by the state of inactivity facing the Lilypond Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Comptroller-General of Customs Dikko Inde Abdulahi has set up a committee to revive the once thriving command.
Abdulahi had expressed his displeasure over the command’s poor state when he visited there last year.
SHIPS &PORTS DAILY investigations revealed that no single container has been stemmed to the command since last year, thereby leaving the officers idle.
It was equally gathered that the command’s daily revenue collection is nothing to write home about as a result of the dormant state.
Zonal Coordinator in charge of Zone ‘A’ and Chairman of the Committee, Assistant Comptroller-General Victor Gbemudu, in a chat with SHIPS & PORTS DAILY, said that it has had its maiden meeting and will soon present its report to the Comptroller-General.
Gbemudu stated that the call by a group of agents demanding for the merger of Lilypond and Apapa commands is impossible, as, according to him, Lilypond was created as an autonomous command.
“Lilypond is an independent command and is created by government so ships have to be stemmed from both Tin-Can and Apapa . Officers are there and we cannot be wasting manpower,” he said.
Lamenting the state of the command, Customs Area Controller (CAC), Lilypond Area Command, Comptroller Willy Egbudin, told SHIPS & PORTS DAILY that non-transfer of containers to the command may lead to congestion at the Lagos ports.
According to him, when there is congestion, the government would lose revenue, as containers meant for physical examination will not undergo proper examination before exiting the ports.
Members of the Committee include Egbudin, and representatives of Lilypond Container Terminal and APM Terminals, among others.
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