Nigerian Custom Service, Murtala Muhamed Airport Command remain resolute at ensuring the collection of the much-needed revenue for federal government and also ensure the safety and well-being of citizenry through curbing smuggling to its barest minimum while facilitating legitimate trade and export trades.
In term of revenue generation, despite the challenges, Murtala Muhammed Airport Command has surpassed its record for the first quarter of 2024 when compared to what was collected the previous year. In the first quarter of 2023, the command collected N21362,752,676.44k.
While in the corresponding period of 2024, the command records: N45,232,483,528.00
This represents an appreciable increase of N23,869,730,851.56k, depicting an increase of 111.7 %.
In an area of anti-smuggling, similarly, the command has recorded an appreciable increase in its anti-smuggling drive, which led to the interception of 50 pieces of live 9mm live munitions, which was jointly discovered in the examinations with NDLEA, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, officials.
The number of first-quarter seizures on the command includes 1,164 kg of sea cucumbars, 58 kilograms of donkey genitals and 17 packages of tramadol.
The cumulative duty paid value of the affirmation items stood at 5,794,099, 371.19k
All this seized items contravene some of the provisions of the Extant Laws as enshrined in the Nigerian Custom Service Act. 2023.
In terms of our stakeholder engagement, the command has maintained its open-door policy and resolved a lot of issues of common interest with concerned stakeholders.
The comptroller thank all stakeholders, sister agencies, and the media for their collaborative efforts and synergy while carrying out our statutory mandate in the state.
He also thank the controller general of customs, Basher Adewale Adiniyi, MFR, and his management team for this continued support, as well as his officers of the command, urging them to remain focused, steadfast in discharging their statutory functions.
Questions from our correspondence during the briefing?
The question I want to ask has to do with the issue of the revenue you’ve collected so far this year.
Are you saying the increase in revenue is as a result of the policy of the CG of customs?
Second question to do with the issue of the procedure of those ammunitions, how did the joint- collaboration brought up the success?
The CGC, if you recall vividly, when the CGC came on board, he made sure that he engaged with all stakeholders, indeed with all officers, with a view at repositioning the service.
To that effect, He made it clear that revenue was the paramount end of the government.
As such, Nigerian Custom Service, being one of the arm of government that generates revenue, must step up to make sure that revenue is actually generated.
As a result, if you recall, there are a series of activities or programs that he rolled out in the year and last year, all aimed at blocking leakage, stakeholders so that the will be stakeholders will now key in with a view at increasing the revenue.
His efforts have really paid off to make us get this revenues.
Similarly, on our part as chief executives of our commands, we make sure that compliant traders do their biddings.
We make sure that we leave nothing on turn to make sure that traders declare correctly and pay their duties.
How are you able to discover these ammunition?
We got this rounds of examinations through a joint examination with NDLEA.
In fact, it was concealed. You can’t know there’s such items inside the tire.
Of course, they have Intel, and on the normal examination, you couldn’t even see that because it’s really concealed. The item was being fixed.
We had to caught deep the luggage thoroughly, we later discovered the item deep inside, it was so wrapped inside tires, and we just found it there, the 9mm ammunition..
With our ordinary examination, we won’t have found that, it was a collaboration with NDLEA , and this is one of those things that CGC is always thinking about collaboration.
So collaboration has really helped in this case.
Contrary to most of the procedures that we do, we hand over to them.
This one we did jointly and the intelligence came from them.
When I was doing my examination, I would just go. Very fair, highly, because the scope which we’ll have done, we wouldn’t have seen anything.
But because there was Intel and there was that collaboration, they brought in their staff and docs and we were able to do that.
So it was a very good one. Collaboration really worked.
If I may ask, before we go to the next question, with regards to that, did you have any arrests?
Very, very much, yeah. Two suspects was arrested in connection to this regard.
Has some seizures reduced?
Yes, it has reduced tremendously, tramadol have reduced.
We’re not seeing them any longer.
With regards to your revenue collection, you mentioned on the fact that forex is a big problem?
Of course, it is a national issue as we speak now.
But yet, you’re surpassing?
Yes
