How Tin-Can Customs collected N183bn in eight months

Last week, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Tin-Can Island Port Command said it generated a total of N183 billion in the first eight months of the year, January to August despite the global economic recession that came with low business.

Yusuf Bashar, Customs Area Controller (CAC) of the command disclosed in a statement signed by Uche Ejesieme, Public Relations Officer of the command that the present revenue was N27 billion higher than the N156 billion generated same period in 2016.

The controller, who said that Tin-Can has sustained high revenue profile since the beginning of the year, attributed the feat to the creative policies of the command, which enabled his officers to block all possible areas of revenue loss.

According to him, the command generated a total of N28 billion for the month of August alone, which is the highest in the records of the Command, particularly when compared to the corresponding periods in the years past.

“This implies that if not for the exclusion of 41 items banned from accessing foreign exchange from the official window, Tin-Can Customs would have doubled its revenue,” he added.

He said that Tin-Can command is becoming more thorough in its revenue drive, to the extent that all high yielding revenue consignments were closely monitored to avoid circumvention of import procedure by dubious importers or their agents.

Stating that Customs’ management expects so much from the Command, he promised to ensure that Tin-Can will continue to develop adequate operational template and modalities that will be capable of entrenching integrity in the acumen of its operations.

He also appreciated the compliance level of stakeholders to Federal Government fiscal policies as regards trade, even as he advised few recalcitrant ones to toe the path of sanity through honest declaration in their documentations. He noted that integrity, due diligence, honest declarations and transparency are key elements in 21st Century Customs operations.

On his plans for the ember months, the Controller pointed out that high cargo traffic is usually expected at this period of the year and advised importers to desist from importing contraband goods in view of its implication.

Uzoamaka Anagor-Ewuzie