Customs Posts N4bn Revenue in Three Months

By Ademola Babalola in Ibadan

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Oyo/Osun Area Command has earned over N4billion in the first quarter of the fiscal year.

The figure put at N4,611,914,510.32, according to the Area Controller of the Command, Temitope Ogunkua, followed the Command’s renewed efforts at delivering on its set target.

Ogunkua said the command will also re-strategise and re-engineer the anti-smuggling operation modalities to match the ever evolving challenges posed by smugglers, recalled that a total of six hundred and seventeen (617) vehicles paid duty to the tune of ninety eight million, four hundred and thirteen thousand, thirty two naira (N98,413,032.00).

He said: “On the other hand, the Oyo/Osun Command generated a total of Four billion, six hundred and eleven million, nine hundred and fourteen thousand, five hundred and ten naira thirty two kobo (N 4,611,914,510.32) in the first quarter of the year 2016.”

Ogunkua also listed the seizures in the first quarter of the year to include 206 packages of Cannabis Sativa; 3,103 50kg bags of rice with duty paid value of N24, 793,945.00, a total of 43 fairly used assorted vehicles were arrested with a duty paid value of N52,985,217.00, 66 cartons of frozen imported poultry products with a duty paid value of N548,262.00 were also intercepted within this period under review”.

He said all hands must be on the deck to generate maximum revenue while blocking all leakages within the Command’s area of coverage, saying the command has identified about seven (7) excise factories within the area command where they can generate more revenue.

“Repeatedly, a total of 72 seizures with the duty paid value of 203, 649,995.00 only from the month of January to April 2016.

“It is expected that there will be increase in the command’s revenue profile in this quarter through voluntary compliance to duty payment by all genuine importers and excise factories, channeling efforts towards breaking new frontiers through stakeholders engagements, building a more robust synergy with other security agencies, intelligence sharing and utilisation, discovering emerging extant factories and bringing them under excise control.

“We are looking at how we can block those revenue leakages,” he said.