Nigeria Customs ultimatum
Last week it was reported that the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd) has approved a grace period of one month for owners of all vehicles in the country whose customs duties have not been paid to do so or risk their vehicles being confiscated and the owners of such vehicles prosecuted. The grace period is said to run between March 13 and April 13, 2017. Following the expiration of the grace period, as the spokesperson of the Customs service indicated, “there will be an aggressive anti-smuggling operation to seize, as well as prosecute owners of such smuggled vehicles after the deadline of Wednesday, 12th April 2017. The service therefore called on “all private car owners who are not sure of the authenticity of their vehicle customs documents can and should approach the zonal offices to verify their status with a view to complying with the provision of the law”
To be sure, this advisory is fraught with many difficulties and unanswered questions. First, how did these vehicles get into the country without paying customs duties? The Customs service is the gatekeeper, so to speak, of goods and services entering into the country. So, it should be explaining to Nigerians and, of course, the government how so many vehicles got into the country and onto the roads without paying the statutory fees rather than threatening people with confiscation of their vehicles and prosecution. Has Col. Ali determined that private vehicle owners didn’t really pay customs duty on their vehicles or it is just a case of fraud on the part of Customs personnel who collect the money and didn’t remit it? If it is a case of fraud within the Customs service, would it not amount to double jeopardy or needless harassment for the service to focus on the victims of the fraud rather than the perpetrators who are within the service?
Besides, how does the Service plan to arrest and confiscate vehicles on Nigerian streets? Is the service abandoning its posts at the border points and moving to the roads in search of vehicles who haven’t paid Customs duty or what? Indications from the organisation of recent, is that smugglers have overwhelmed the service and the service does not have enough personnel to effectively police all the border and entry posts into the country. If this is true, would it not be foolhardy shifting its focus onto Nigerian roads instead of focusing more on preventing smuggling?
In a way, this speaks volume about the quality of thinking and planning that goes on in our agencies and government parastatals. The Customs should have done a thorough investigation of the problem and focus more on prevention of future incidences rather than embarking on a valiant but ultimately fool-hardy strategy of compelling payments. Recently, we were regaled with the story of arms and ammunition entering into the country through legitimate routes and cleared by Customs personnel. What is the Customs doing to reform the service and ensure that its personnel are efficient and corrupt-free? Wouldn’t such an endeavour better than embarking on such fool-hardy revenue drive?
We ultimately believe the Customs should focus on self-cleansing and reforms rather than such bravado tactics.