FG sets N4.1 trillion target for Nigeria Customs Service in 2022

By Steve Agbota, Lagos

The Federal Government has set a revenue target of N4.1 trillion for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for the year 2022.

The Customs Area Controller of Apapa Command, Comptroller Yusuf Malanta Ibrahim, disclosed this while briefing newsmen on its maiden press briefing for the year said that although the service is yet to divide the revenue target to various commands.

However, he said the Apapa Area Command have already boarded and fastened the seat belt towards the realisation of the revenue target by leveraging on the deployment of digital transformation of Customs business processes.

“This will further take care of many control mechanisms through its risk management system. The transformation he said will further harmonise the activities of stakeholders toward seamless ease of doing business in the port,” he said.

He added that between January and December 2021, the Command collected a revenue of over N870.3 billion and remitted to the federation and non-federation accounts of the Federal Government, respectively in spite of the enormous challenges faced in the trade supply chain; occasioned by the COVID-19 Pandemic and the high cost of freight, incessant traffic gridlock, rail construction through the port.

On anti-smuggling, the command informed that in line with the provision of extant circulars; trade guidelines and enforcement of government fiscal policy measures, the command worked against economic saboteurs through credible intelligence-driven operations and continuous partnering with other relevant agencies.

He said that the command made a total of 103 seizures with a Duty Paid Value of N31.2 billion.

On export, the Comptroller said that In the year under review, the command recorded a boom in the exportation of non-oil commodities with about a 110 per cent 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.

He said 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 noting that the naira equivalent of the exported goods stood at over N245 billion.

He listed Items exported in the year 2021 through the command to include steel bars, agricultural and mineral products, among others.

This according to him was achieved through the Federal Government policy and export incentives schemes occasioned by the service facilitation and automation of NXP and CCI.

“Accordingly, the command made a total of 103 seizures with Duty Paid Value of N31.227 billion. Worthy of mention here is the seizure of 46.55 kg of cocaine concealed on vessels Mv Karteria and MV Chayanee Naree laden with raw sugar.

“Some of the seized items include 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,” he said.

The post FG sets N4.1 trillion target for Nigeria Customs Service in 2022 appeared first on The Sun Nigeria.