The Nigeria Customs Service generated no less than N1.341 as revenue for 2019, exceeding its target of N937bn by a whopping N404bn

The amount generated, which has been attributed largely to the land border closure policy of the Federal Government, is also N139.24 billion more than the N1.20 trillion generated in 2018.

Comptroller-General of Customs, Col, Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd) commented on the record achieved by the NCS, stating that it was as a result of the uncompromising pursuit of the service in doing what is right for the nation.

He said the revenue generation of the service had been on the rise annually largely due to the strategic policies of the ongoing reforms in the service.

The Customs boss said the policies involved the strategic deployment of officers strictly using the standard operating procedure, strict enforcement of extant guidelines by the tariff and trade department, and the automation of the Customs process thereby, eliminating vices associated with the manual process.

Ali said that other strategic policies include robust stakeholder sensitization, resulting in more informed/voluntary compliance, and increased disposition of officers and men to put national interest above selves.

Addressing the impact of ongoing border closure on port activities, Ali stated that there were lots of advantages. He said cargoes that could have been smuggled through the borders to come through the sea and airports, raised revenue collection from ports.

“Before the commencement of the border drill on 20th August 2019, revenue generation was between N4bn to N5bn but now NCS generates between N5bn to N7bn daily,” he said.

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