PTML Customs Generates N51.6bn in 3 Months

Charge promoted officers to double commitment

BY FUNMI ALUKO

SC Muhammad Yakubu being decorated by the CAC and DC Admin

The Ports Terminal Multiservices Limited, PTML, Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, said it generated a total of N51, 629,992,669 between January and March 2022. The figure is 10.2 percent higher, amounting to  an increase of N4,779,352,799 over and above the sum of N46,850,639,870 realised within the same period of 2021.

The Command Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Customs, Muhammad Yakubu, in a statement said the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Festus Oyedele Okun, expressed satisfaction with the command’s first quarter scorecard, describing it as an evidence of productivity on the part of the officers and men despite the harsh operating environment and some other challenges.

Meanwhile, the area controller has charged newly promoted officers of the command to continually uphold tenets of integrity and redouble their dedication to service. Okun who said this while administering the decoration of promoted officers with their new ranks Thursday advised them not to see their new rank as a bed of roses but as a challenge to work more in the interest of the nation in terms of national economic and security sustenance.

“I am happy to be part of your excelling moments in your service history and will want to urge you to contribute more to the service by upholding the tenets of integrity at all times.

“As your area controller, I appreciate your efforts in the past and believe that Nigeria deserves more. I hereby urge you all to redouble in the areas of maximum revenue collection, suppression of smuggling, trade facilitation, and discharging all policies of the Federal Government as directed.”

While maintaining that the Command will continually ensure that nothing hinders the course of revenue collection and suppression of smuggling, the area customs boss notes that customs internal mechanism will continue to promote trade facilitation under his watch.

He therefore urged importers and their agents to maximize the quick clearance potentials of the command by being compliant all the time through making of sincere declarations and obeying all extant rules as contained in the Customs and Excise Management Act, import and export prohibition lists as well as other documents of instruction.

The CAC also urged officers to remain uncompromising in the discharge of their duties while thanking them for their steadfastness and promotion of cordial relationship with stakeholders, even in the face of recent strike action over Vehicle Identification Number, VIN Valuation.

He enjoined stakeholders to be trade compliance at all time, noting that it is more expensive to be non compliant as it could lead to arrest, detention, demand notices and or outright seizures.

He said: “We as a model port dealing more with Roll on Roll off, RoRo, cargoes have always maintained a standard of four hour clearance time for compliant traders. I am urging all our importers and agents using PTML to take advantage of our seamless trade facilitation capacity.

“They can enjoy it only when they make sincere declarations and import in compliance with the law. It is important I remind them that compliance results in more profits and time saving. Non compliance either leads to seizures, demand notices, penalties arrests and prosecution.

“We as a command will never bend the rules for anyone because our service is a strategic organisation for collection of non oil revenue for the Federal Government”, he said.