Customs revenue profile hits N95bn in August amid downturn
Despite the poor economic situation resulting to low import and export in and out of the nation’s seaport, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has declared revenue of N95, 760,763,642.04 generated by the service in the month of August.
A statement signed by the Public Relations Unit of Customs in Abuja and published on its website, said that the N95.8 billion collected by the service in August, was the highest revenue collected in one month by Customs in the last 10 years despite the difficulty in accessing foreign exchange by importers, low imports and the general economic downturn in the country.
The statement attributed the performance to the strong stance of the Hammed Ibrahim Ali-led administration of Customs that holds issues of discipline, integrity and strict adherence to Customs codes and clearance procedures, very firm. This is currently yielding positive results in the areas of suppression of smuggling and revenue collection.
Recall that Ali on assumption of office in August 2015 arrived with a three prone Presidential mandate that include reform, restructure and raise revenue. To achieve these, Ali came up with a policy thrust that dwells on honesty, integrity and transparency.
The statement further noted that the Customs boss embarked on stakeholders’ visitations to secure their buy-in to the new way of doing business at the port, especially in the area of cooperation and compliance to the rules guiding trade and cargo clearance. “After one year at the helm of affairs, the Nigeria Customs Service revenue generation profile has continued to be on the rise.”