Comptroller Musa Jubrin, CAC, Apapa Customs

 

The Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has collected a total of N136.4billion for the first five months of the 2017 fiscal year covering January 1 to May 31, 2017 despite the decline in the volume of imports occasioned by the economic recession in the country.

This represents a revenue growth rate of 38.8 per cent when compared to the N98.1billion collected in the corresponding period of last year.

The command had also recovered over the period a total of N1.8billion from infractions identified and treated in terms of declarations made by importers and their clearing agents.

Customs Area Controller in charge of the command, Comptroller Musa Jibrin, who briefed newsmen in Lagos Wednesday on the activities of the command for the first five months of the year, attributed the feat to proactive measures adopted by the command in handling the affairs of the premier command, especially extracting the commitment of the officers and men.

The Controller had on assumption of duty earlier in the year made it clear to the officers and men of the command that value addition must be a propelling force for both the management and followership of the command, which implies that everyone must work towards adding value.

The Comptroller believes that such value addition would progressively sees the command doing things better daily, a principle that has been internalised over the period by the officers and men in the command.

“The Apapa Command being the flagship in terms of revenue generation and trade facilitation, among others, will continue to intensify its efforts at blocking all revenue leakages in order to sustain and build on this result. The command will also ensure at all times that the maximum revenue due to the government is collected”, the Comptroller pledged.

On anti-smuggling and enforcement activities, the enforcement unit of the command seized and detained a total of 24 items including containers of different goods and consignments including frozen fish, medicaments and pharmaceuticals as well as other general goods .

It was gathered that the offences for which these arrests and seizures were made include under-invoicing, wrong and false classification, wrong declaration of value, and importation of prohibited items and underpayment of value, among several others.

Also intercepted and detained are some export containers of scrap metals, wet blue (leather) and unprocessed wood, which fall under export prohibition list in line with the nation’s extant laws.

A high point of the briefing was the official handing over of some pharmaceutical products to officials of the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control NAFDAC for further action and possible prosecution in line with the laws of the land even as investigations continue.

The CAC however called on exports, especially of agricultural and allied products to avail themselves of the simplified procedures for export products put in place by the command as part of its contribution to the efforts of the Federal Government to diversify the economy through export promotion.

“I am using this medium to call on all prospective exporters of made in Nigeria products and other raw materials to come to Apapa Command for their exports. I wish to state here that the command is ready now more than ever before to facilitate export trade considering the current state of the economy and Federal Government’s efforts at diversifying the economy through encouraging export of agricultural products “, he had pleaded passionately.