The Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Hameed Ali, has disclosed that the federal government has set a revenue target of N887 billion for the agency in 2019.
But he promised that the figure would be significantly surpassed as the management had earlier set a higher target for the organisation.
Speaking at the opening of the 2019 International Customs Day (ICD) with the theme: ‘Smart Border for Seamless, Trade, Travel and Transport”, Ali, however, warned that the NCS would no longer tolerate the incessant killing of its officers by smugglers.
He vowed to counter such attacks with appropriate force going forward.
Ali said the organisation intended to raise its revenue drive by acquiring non-intrusive equipment to boost trade facilitation and urged stakeholders to comply with trade rules.
He said the Customs generated N904.072 billion, N898.673 billion, N1.037 trillion and N1.202 trillion in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, respectively, totaling about N4.042 trillion.
Ali identified the problems facing the NCS to include porous borderlines, inadequate non-intrusive equipment, hostile border community dwellers, high level of non-formal trades, low implementation of ECOWAS Protocol on transit, low level of compliance among international trade actors among others.
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