Hyacinth Chinweuba
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Apapa Area command has generated N23.4 billion as revenue for the month of January 2016.
Comptroller Willy Egbudin who gave the figure during a stakeholders’ forum organised by the command, expressed the hope that Apapa command would exceed the 2015 revenue, which saw a decline from N301 billion in 2014 to N288 billion in 2015.
“We pray that this year, we should exceed N300 billion to N400 billion or N500 billion. That is our expectation.
“So far, I don’t think we are doing badly even though we are not meeting the target because for the month of January this year, we had been able to realise N23.4 billion compared to January last year whn we realised N20.7 billion,” he said.
Egbudin, however, admitted that there had been a sharp drop in importation but added that with honest and transparent declaration, the revenue target of N1 trillion set for the NCS this year would be achieved.
Meanwhile, clearing agents operating at the Apapa port have raised the alarm over fresh moves by sacked government agencies to return to the ports.
The agents also accused some agencies presently at the ports of not making themselves available when examination was being carried out by Customs officers.
A representative of the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, Julie Ogboru, stated that because the agencies were not usually on ground when examination was being conducted, they always requested fresh examination, thereby causing delay and making cargo clearance more cumbersome.
She requested that Customs officers mandate the agencies who are not present at the examination period to sign the examination form and allow the container to exit the port.
She said, “The agencies have become a torn in our flesh. After examination, everybody should sign the examination paper at the point of examination and no agent should go back to their offices to give them paper to sign.