Customs Removes Road Blocks Nationwide

Eromosele Abiodun
Following directive from the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) in line with the Executive Orders issued by the federal government, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has ordered all its commands across the country to immediately remove all road blocks nationwide.

The Comptroller General of the NCS, Col Hammed Ali (rtd), in a circular copied to Deputy Comptroller General, all acting Deputy Comptroller General, Assistant Comptroller Generals, Zonal Coordinators, Customs Area Controllers, Comptrollers Federal Operating Units, Comptroller General’s Compliance Teams and Marine Commands, yesterday, directed them to ensure immediate compliance.

Ali in the circular titled: ‘Removal of All Illegal Check-Points Across the Country,’ signed by Acting Deputy Comptroller General (E, I & I), said, “Reference to the PEBEC letter No: PEBEC/EBES/SSAITIOVP/TWN/03 of 18 July, 2017, on the above subject-matter, you are hereby directed to ensure compliance.

“For avoidance of doubt, it is hereby emphasised that check-points mounted outside 40 kilometres to the border are illegal while information patrols outside this point should not last more than 24- hours at any given time.”

He added: “The 40 kilometres radius applies only to the borders and consequently there should be no check-points within the port areas. To further clarify the issue, it should be reminded strongly that only two checkpoints situated at Agbara and Gbaji along Lagos-Badagry-Seme road are statutorily approved for instance.

“Henceforth, Zonal Coordinators, Comptrollers FOUs, CACs CIU and other units will be jointly held responsible for flouting the directive. Ensure widest circulation for strict compliance please.”
The federal government had recently endorsed and signed three Executive Orders expected to give boost to the Nigeria’s concept of ease of doing business.

The development is expected to increase patronage for locally manufactured goods. It will also remove all bureaucratic bottlenecks that stifled growth of businesses in Nigeria.
The three executive orders, according to a statement from the office of the acting president, touched on specific instructions on a number of policy issues.

The issues include “the promotion of transparency and efficiency in the business environment designed to facilitate the ease of doing business in the country; timely submission of annual budgetary estimates by all statutory and non-statutory agencies, including companies owned by the Federal Government; and support for local contents in public procurement by the federal government, ”it stated.