Isaac Anumihe
Tincan Island Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) yesterday declared N162,701,701,136.83 as revenue generated between January and June this year.
This was against the sum of N130,006,136, 996.36 generated in the corresponding period of 2017.
According to the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the command, Mr. Uche Ejesieme, this represents an increase of N32,695,564,140.47.
“The declaration was made by the Customs Area Comptroller, Tincan Island Port, Comptroller Musa Baba Abdullahi, during a chat with some stakeholders in his office,” Ejesieme said.
The command, Abdullahi said, has been repositioned as the most business-friendly port where all compliant declarants are duly compensated and given special preference.
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“We are deploying multi-layered approach in addressing the issues of compliance, which is a panacea to trade facilitation through reward for compliance and ensuring that compliant declarants are given expeditious attention in line with the presidential directive on Ease of Doing Business,” the comptroller said, noting that the command is at the verge of fully automating key seats in the command to enable seamless operations.
On seizures and detentions, he stated that the command effected seizures of assorted offending items ranging from used clothing, children’s toys, assorted furniture, bags of rice, shoes, handbags, used vehicles, etc, with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N138,752,991 as against that of 2017, which stood at a DPV of N88,062,250.
He stated that the command is in steady progression in all aspects of its primary functions and urged stakeholders to take advantage of the various complaints platforms in channeling their genuine grievances for necessary action.
The CAC recalled that during the period under review, the command also effected seizures of large quantity of ammunition and other military hardware during scheduled examinations and promised that the command will not lower its guards in ensuring that such illicit consignment does not pass through the command.
The CAC appreciated the support of the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), Colonel Hameed Ibrahim Ali, his management team, the officers and men of the command and the compliant in TCIP for their support during the period under reference.
He pointed out that the command will continue to leverage on the already harnessed competences of its hardworking personnel to carve a niche and remain outstanding in the performance of its statutory mandate.
“We are encouraged by the steady progress in compliance by importers and we are optimistic that the trend will continue to show appreciable response,” he said.
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On the issue of multiple alerts due to non-compliance with the fiscal policies, the CAC, while charging importers/agents on honest declarations, assured that with the take-off of the “One-Stop Shop” area under construction, the issue of multiple alerts would become history.
The comptroller posited that the command remains committed to the change mantra of the CGC and will not renege on its statutory responsibilities.