Story by Dili Utomi.
The primary responsibility of the Nigeria Customs Service according its mandate include the protection of the national economy, trade facilitation and of course revenue generation.
In consideration of always achieving these objectives, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi also introduced certain policy guidelines that may help in achieving the core mandates of the Service.
The policy guidelines as enunciated are those of consolidation, collaboration and innovation and most of his lieutenants have keyed into these guidelines as evident in most of their press releases and addresses. It suffices to say that these policy guidelines as well as the modernisation of their operational techniques and the use of modern tools have all contributed to the impressive figures usually churned out by the various Units and Commands of the Service.
On Tuesday, the Murtala Mohammed Airport Command of the Nigeria Customs Service had a press briefing where the scorecard of the Command was presented to the journalists present. The Customs Area Controller of the Command, Comptroller MT Awe while addressing newsmen indicated that his Command achieved a significant milestone in revenue generation to the tune of “One hundred and Eighty Billion, Seven Hundred and Fifty Million, Seven Hundred and Eighty Six Thousand, Light Hundred and Forty Four Naira, Thirty-Six Kobo Only (N180,750,786,844.36K) in 2024 as against Ninety Billion, Four Hundred and Twenty-Six Million, One Hundred and Eighty-Five Thousand, Four Hundred and Forty-Seven Naira, One Kobo only. (N90,426,185,447.01K) that was generated in 2023”
The above figure shows an increase of Ninety Billion, Three Hundred and Twenty-Four Million, Six Hundred and One Thousand, Three Hundred and Ninety-Seven Naira, Thirty-Five Kobo Only (₦90,324,001,597.59), representing 99.89% increase. The revenue target for the year 2024 was One Hundred and Seventy Nine Billion, Seven Hundred and Thirty Nine Million, Two Hundred and Forty-One Thousand, Five Hundred and Twenty Six Naira, Thirty-Six Kobo only (N179,739,241,526.36) while the command generated a total revenue of One hundred and Eighty Billion, Seven Hundred and Fifty Million, Seven Hundred and Eighty-Six Thousand, Eight Hundred and Forty-Four Naira, Thirty-Six Kobo Only (180,750,786,844.36K) which shows an increase of One Billion, Eleven Million, Five Hundred and Forty-Five Thousand, Two Hundred and Twenty-Two Naira Only (₦1,011,545,282.00) representing 0.56% increase for the entire year.
The following items were also seized in the course of the year , thery are
21 packages of 225mg Tramadol Hydrochloride 50 round 9mm Live Ammunition
54 packages of Military Hardware
46 packages of Dried Sea Cucumber
3 packages of Dried Donkey Male Genitals
55 pieces of Jojef Tomahawk Semi-Automatic Rifle 50 packages of Dried Canadian Cannabis.
225 pieces of Drones 250 pieces of turtles 1 package of pangolin) skin
1 package of porcupine, thorns, mineral stones.
These seized items have a cumulative Duty-Paid Value (DPV) of Ten Billion, Five Hundred and Eleven Million, Eight Hundred and Eighty-Nine Thousand, Seven Hundred and Ninety-Nine Naira Only-(₦10,511,889,799)
During the question and answer session, the CAC mentioned that the target for the year 2025 is Three Hundred and Fifty Eight Billion Naira (₦358,000,000,000.00) and that as is expected of them at the Command, they are going to re-strategise in different ways and also rejig the system in order to continue to block revenue leakages, increase generated revenue and also surpass the 2025 target.
Comptroller Awe continue to harp on their open door policy, engagement with stakeholders, sister agencies and the media as critical to the success of the Command. He also expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the CG and his management team for their untiring support.
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