The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service(CGC), Col,Ibrahim Ali, (RTD) said the service generated the sum of N2,240,880,308,195.77 for the year 2021.
The custom boss noted that the figure exceeded the target of N1,678,715,016,014.00 set for the year as well as N1,562,115,419,216.32 generated in 2020 representing 43.45% increase.
The Comptroller-General in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer, Compt. Joseph O. Attah, described this as a result of resolute pursuit of what is right and willingness to adapt to changes brought about by global health challenges occasioned by covid-19.
Explaining that the service revenue generation profile has continued to be on the rise annually inline with its ongoing reforms leveraging on Strategic deployment of officers using the standard operating procedure, Ali insisted on automation of the Customs process thereby eliminating vices associated with the manual process.
“In the same vein, the Service efforts to prevent the entry of items that could compromise the Security of our citizens, Economy and the well-being of our people resulted in the seizures of 5,096 assorted items with a duty paid value of N13,796,646,685.60 and 160 suspects at different levels of Investigation or Prosecution.
“All these are expected to impact positively on trade facilitation, fight smuggling, block revenue leakages and significantly impact on revenue generation and national security.
NCS management recognizes the selfless efforts of Officers and Men who remained undaunted throughout the year resulting in these achievements”, he added .
While giving the assurances of the Service determination to continuously seek ways of making it easy for stakeholders to comply, the CGC prayed for the repose of the souls of operatives who paid the supreme price in the course of fighting smugglers. The living, he said must sustain the fight in honor of the departed.
He further reassured of the commitment of the NCS to protection of national security and the economy and called on Nigerians, especially the business community to support the NCS as our borders open to African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) in order to benefit from the trade agreement and other cross border activities.
Other landmark achievements in 2021 that are capable of boosting national security and economy are:
Includes installation of three (3) brand new Scanners in Apapa, Tin-Can Island and Onne Ports, Introduction of mobile tracker: A mobile application that enables individuals to remotely validate any declaration/payment and most importantly the status of any vehicle/cargo at any point. It can be installed in mobile devices. Introduction of Standard Operating Procedure for the use of Scanners, Acquisition of rugged, gun trucks to secure anti-smuggling operatives in an increasingly hostile environment and E-customs take-off process now at the stage of final signing of agreement, the services stated.
