By Uzor Odigbo, Senior Correspondent
N770,573,730,490 by N10b ahead of the year end.
This feat is being achieved five years after it had failed to meet its annual targets even when there was higher volume of imports, stronger national currency for international trade and more relaxed import regime allowing cars and rice importations through land borders.
Speaking in a telephone interview, Joseph Attah, Public Relations Officer of the Service said the feat was achieved as a result of improved service delivery by customs workforce, blocking areas of revenue leakages, enhanced anti smuggling activities and entrenching zero tolerance for corruption.
Attah said: ”The Controller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali, has been able to achieve blocking of revenue leakages and strategic deployment of personnel for increased productivity.
”We as a Service are not relaxed on our functions and will not compromise our position in the cause of serving the country. We shall continue to maximally evoke the provisions of Sections 147 and 158 of the Customs and Excise Management Act (as amended) to enter anywhere suspected to be used to warehouse smuggled goods, seize the goods and legitimately patrol everywhere in the country to achieve our goals.”
Attah said the Service’s anti smuggling activities have resulted in increased number of seizures amounting to over 4,000 with a duty paid value of over N10 billion and still increasing.
The customs spokesman added that the Service was focused on achieving unprecedented revenue collection this year and beyond. “Customs in recent times intensified seizures of suspected smuggled cars parked in car shops while also raiding shops and warehouses where smuggled rice were kept.”
Meanwhile, the Ogun Customs has impounded 16,000 bags of 50kg rice based on its intensified efforts to stem the tide of smuggling of rice and other contraband items through the land borders.
The Command also stated that it collected over N5 billion between January and October, even as it added that it seized other contraband items with over N1.2 billion duty paid value (DPV) within the same period.
The Controller of the Command, Comptroller Sani Madugu, gave the figures recently when the Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) of Customs in charge of Western Zone, Aminu Dahiru, visited the command.
The ACG visited the command as part of his tour of all the commands under his jurisdiction after resuming as the coordinator of the zone.
Madugu stated that 737 items were seized with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of over N1.2 billion within the period under review.
He however quipped that 75 per cent of the revenue collected came from excise factories.
In a statement, he said: “In an effort by officers and men of Ogun Command, to stem the tide of smuggling through approved and unapproved routes in Ogun State, more especially implementing the federal government policy on ban of rice and second hand vehicles through the -smuggling activities has yielded a positive result with more than sixteen thousand bags of 50kg rice stored in Abeokuta and Idiroko warehouses.”
He added that some of the seized items had been handed over to IDP camp in Yobe as relief materials in line with the Command’s vision in ensuring the facilitation of condemnation of seized goods in competent court of law.
He said the following items were taken to the IDP on November 10: 11,990 bags of 50kg rice, 1,123 Jerry cans of 25 litres of vegetable oil and 29 Jerry cans of palm oil.
According to him, 3,108 bags of 50kg rice, 29 units of vehicles, 35 wraps of coconut size and 21 wraps of books size with N87,160, 224.00 were intercepted in October, 2017 as against 1,206 bags of 50kg rice, 24 units of vehicles, 11 packs and 10 coconut packs at N87,160 DPV intercepted in September, 2017.