Acting Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, receives a plaque from the Controller in charge of Ogun II Area Command, Comptroller Ahmadu Shauibu, during a recent familiarisation tour of the command.

The acting Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, has assured stakeholders, especially Free Trade Zone enterprises and excise traders that the service under his watch is committed to ensuring that their businesses prospered.

Speaking in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, which is also the headquarters of Ogun II Area Command of the service when he visited the command as part of his familiarisation visit, the acting CGC assured that he would do everything within his powers to boost their businesses provided they played in line with the rules of the game.

While engaging with the excise traders and Free Trade Zone operators in the state, the acting CGC said that their operations are a priority to the service.

“I have made it a deliberate policy to put your operations at the cornerstone of our activities.

“My understanding is that you are critical stakeholders for us, it is through your activities that we can report our own activities, and it is, therefore, in our interest that we do everything to ensure that your companies and businesses prosper.

“It is not all the time that Customs officers are overzealous in implementation of the law; most of the time, they keep in their mind the basic objectives behind these entities.

“It is the intention of the government through the enterprises to boost foreign exchange for Nigeria and its economy, create jobs for Nigerians, and of course, to enhance Nigeria’s economic development, and this is why a number of concessions, a number of waivers have been granted to free zone operators”, the CGC said.

The stakeholders had congratulated the new Customs boss on his appointment while also raising issues of concern on the operations of the Free Trade Zones and factories under excise control.

In response, the ag. CGC revealed that a committee has been set up to address such issues of concern.

He said: “I have set up a committee consisting of representatives of enterprises, The Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority NEPZA and Oil and Gas Authority, working with representatives from my office to look into all the areas of concern”.

While appreciating the CGC, for his visit, the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Ahmadu Shauibu, highlighted some of the achievements of the command, which includes the fact the a total of 18 factories have been brought in since the CAC took the mantle of leadership at the Ogun command.