The Nigerian Customs Service(NCS), has disclosed that it generated the sum of N1,202,271,240,478.30 for the year 2018, presenting N164,897,273,077.50 over 2017 collection which was N1,037,373,967,400.80.
Commenting on this historic feat, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd), described it as the result of dogged pursuit of what is right rather than being populist by compromising national interest on the altar of individual or group interests.
The increasing annual revenue generation from the service in the last three years was said to be the result of reform programmes which include but not limited to: Upgrade on the electronic systems from Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System (NICIS I) to NICIS II which has blocked leakages; Strategic deployment of manpower; Strict enforcement of extant guidelines by the Tariff and Trade department.
Others are; Robust stakeholder engagement resulting to increased compliance, as well as an increased disposition of Officers and Men to put national interest above selves.
“In the same vain, the NCS reinvigorated anti-smuggling operations yielded a total of 5,235 seizures with duty paid value (DPV) of N61,543,633,401.31”, said the NCS Public Relations Officer,Joseph Attah in a statement on Friday.
Attah, further noted that these seizures include arms, ammunition, more than 59 containers of Tramadol and other controlled drugs and 320,709 foreign rice and many more.
“Though smuggling remains a challenge, the service three layers security strategy continues to make smuggling unattractive to the would-be smugglers.
“While the service continues to deal decisively with smugglers, fellow citizens, especially border dwellers and port users are advised to support NCS by reporting any smuggling activity to the nearest Customs formation.
“Together we can protect our economy and security by joining hands to fight smuggling and ensure that appropriate customs duty is paid on every dutiable import”, he emphasized.
Accordingly, he appreciated the compliant stakeholders that have supported the Service in 2018 and called on all Nigerians and especially international trade actors to help make 2019 better for the nation.
