Apapa Customs Breaks Own Record, Collects N16b One-day

BY FUNMI ALUKO

The Apapa Command of Nigeria Customs Service on February 23, 2024, recorded another revenue collection milestone by generating N16,021,660,412.00 (Sixteen billion, twenty-one million, six hundred and sixty thousand, four hundred and twelve naira).

According to a statement signed by the Command Public Relations Officer, Abubakar Usman, the above figure has become the highest daily revenue collection in the history of the command, surpassing the sum of N11.3bn collected in November 22, 2023, and N10bn on August 3, 2023.

Customs Area Controller (CAC) of the Command, Comptroller Babajide Jaiyeoba who was quoted to have described the feat as one of the expected fallouts of the many strategies he has put in place, urged officers and men of the command to keep up the tempo of zero tolerance for infractions and non compromise for any violation of the Nigeria Customs Service Act (NCSA) 2023.

The statement hints that the outstanding scorecard in the face of declined volume of trade was achieved as a result of weekly strategy meetings between the CAC and sectional heads to review and evaluate successes and challenges with a view to continually improving on the command’s achievements.

The statement further reads, “There have also been more regular stakeholder engagements between the command, sister government agencies, importers, exporters, terminal operators, and all others involved in the cargo clearance and supply chain.”

Under Comptroller Jaiyeoba, there has been a remarkable improvement in the number of containers being scanned to save time and operate in line with the expectations of modern customs administration.

While commending officers of the command for their dedication to duty exemplified through punctuality and integrity, the Area Controller also urged importers, licensed customs agents and freight forwarders to embrace scanning much more as the NCS under CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR is committed to maximum deployment of ICT for trade facilitation.

He described sincere declaration as a mark of integrity that saves time and money, resulting in a win-win situation for everyone. According to him, not making sincere declaration is poor business decision capable of causing delays, leading to issuance of demand notices and denying the declarants of the benefits of enjoying fast track and possible migration to Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status.