The Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has said that out of the overall N2.2Trilion realised by the service in 2021, the command alone collected a total sum of N870,388,340,650.65 as revenue between January and December 2021 and remitted same to the federation and non-federation accounts of the Federal Government, respectively.
This is even as the Federal Government has set a revenue target of N4.1 Trillion for the entire Customs Service in year 2022.
Briefing journalists in Apapa on Thursday, Customs Area Controller of Apapa Command of Nigeria Customs Service, Comptroller Yusuf Malanta Ibrahim noted that the N4.1Trillion have not been distributed by the customs headquarters to the commands.
Apapa command (left) and the representative of DSS during a press briefing in Apapa on Thursday
He however vowed that the command is ready to surpass its performance for last year. He hoped that the service would leverage on the deployment of digital transformation of its business processes which will further take care of many control mechanisms through its risk management system.
Speaking on the N870billion collected by the command, Compt Malanta said “This clearly shows that the revenue profile of the command has significantly increased by about 68% when compared with the collection of 518.4 billion in the year 2020. We are determined to do more and surpass our revenue target for the year 2022, by God’s grace”
In terms of exported cargoes, the Customs Area Controller stated that in year 2021, the command recorded a boom in the exportation of non-oil commodities with about 110% increase in tonnage above the figure of the year 2020.
He said “Statistics from the export unit shows that goods with a total tonnage of about five million, three hundred and eighty metric tons were exported in the year 2021, as against one million, three hundred metric tons exported in 2020.
“The Free on Board (FOB) value for the exported items also rose from $340 million in the year 2020 to $641 million US dollars in 2021. The naira equivalent of the exported goods stood at over N245 billion naira. Items exported include steel bars, agricultural and mineral products, among others.
“This feat was achieved through the Federal government policy and export incentives schemes occasioned by the service facilitation and automation of NXP and CCI”
In the area of anti-smuggling, Compt Malanta informed that the command made a total of 103 seizures with Duty Paid Value of N31,227,431,225.00.
Some of these cargoes seized includes; 46.55 kg of cocaine concealed on vessels Mv Karteria and MV Chayanee Naree laden with raw sugar.
Others are; containers of foreign parboiled rice, tomato paste, secondhand clothes, unregistered pharmaceuticals like captagon pills, tramadol, codeine syrup, etc. These were seizures made in accordance with provision sections 46, 47 and 161 of CEMA (Customs and Excise Management act) CAP C45 LFN 2004.
These seizures are condemned by a competent court of law and the suspects are still undergoing investigation and interrogation.
The Apapa Command Controller said the command has achieved a robust industrial harmony with all government agencies in the Apapa port, especially its host the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and other sister agencies (the DSS, NAFDAC, NDLEA, SON, Port Police), as well as shipping lines and terminal operators whose tremendous contribution has been a great success in the outgone year.
The Apapa commander of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Mr Samuel Gadzama who was in attendance at the press briefing commended the existing working synergy between the customs service and NDLEA.
He assured that the year 2022 has began on a good note of collaboration and synergy among government agencies in Apapa.
Speaking in the same vein, the Lagos Port Manager of NPA, Mrs Bola Funmilayo Olotu confirmed that there is a working synergy among various agencies at the port and this has yielded tremendous results.
