By Helen Udoh, Outlook Media ABUJA.
The Apapa Command of Nigeria Customs Service on February 23, 2024, recorded another revenue collection milestone by generating
N16,021,660,412.00 (Sixteen billion, twenty-one million, six hundred and sixty thousand, four hundred and twelve naira)
This figure has become the highest daily revenue collection in the history of the command surpassing N11.3bn collected on November 22, 2023, and N10bn on August 3, 2023.
This was contained in a statement signed by CSC Abubakar Usman, Customs Public Relations Officer CAC, Apapa Command and made available to Outlook Media on Monday in Abuja.
According to the statement “Customs Area Controller (CAC) of the Command, Comptroller Babajide Jaiyeoba who described the feat as one of the expected fallouts of the many strategies he has put in place, urged officers and men of the command to keep up the tempo of zero tolerance for infractions and non compromise for any violation of the Nigeria Customs Service Act (NCSA) 2023.
The laudable revenue collection in the face of declined volume of trade was achieved as a result of weekly strategy meetings between the CAC and sectional heads to review and evaluate success and challenges with a view to continually improving on the command’s achievements.
There have also been more regular stakeholder engagments between the command, sister government agencies, importers, exporters, terminal operators, and all others involved in the cargo clearance and supply chain.
Under Comptroller Jaiyeoba, there has been a remarkable improvement in the number of containers being scanned to save time and operate in line with the expectations of modern customs administration.
While commending the officers of the command for their dedication to duty exemplified through punctuality and integrity, the Area Controller urged importers, licensed customs agents and freight forwarders to embrace scanning the more as the NCS under CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR is committed to maximum deployment of ICT for trade facilitation.
He described sincere declaration as a mark of integrity that saves time and money, resulting in a win-win situation for everyone. According to him, not making sincere declaration is poor business decision capable of causing delays, leading to issuance of demand notices and denying the declarants of the benefits of enjoying fast track and possible migration to Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status.
