Apapa customs generated N1.6tn revenue in Q3 – Official

The Nigeria Customs Service, Apapa Area Command, said it collected N1.6tn as revenue at the end of the third quarter of 2024.

It added that the revenue was higher than N1.2tn, which was collected as total revenue in the year 2023.

The command’s Public Relations Officer, Usman Abubakar disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

The Customs Area Controller in charge of the command, Babatunde Olomu, while describing the feat as a fallout of diligence and integrity, said the command would continually engage with stakeholders to improve on the revenue collection achievements and reduce smuggling.

“The N201bn collected in July 2024 and N193bn in September 2024 are spectacular figures capable of being replicated again in the last quarter of the year beginning from October,” Olomu stated.

Olomu averred that the various trade facilitation programmes put in place by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, like the advance ruling, time release study, and Authorised Economic Operator, were being dutifully implemented for the overall benefit of the nation’s economy.

The CAC commended officers of the command for the achievement in revenue collection relying on diligent examination and uncompromising interventions through issuance of demand notices, where and when necessary.

He said that the command would continually engage with all stakeholders to sustain the rising level of compliance, which has resulted in reduced smuggling in the area.

Olomu mentioned that strict monitoring of cargoes, constant profiling of port users, sensitization of stakeholders and in-house training, and retraining of officers have jointly contributed to the almost zero level of smuggling in recent times.

The CAC urged all port users in command to avail themselves of the service’s dispute resolution team to resolve all areas of uncertainty while reassuring licensed customs agents, freight forwarders, importers, exporters, and haulage operators of the command’s readiness to assist at all times.

He vowed that the command would leverage its relationship with sister agencies to share intelligence against criminal elements, do joint examinations in line with extant standard operating procedures, and promote compliance at all times.

“Our revenue collection is good, and I know we can do better with more impressive results in the last quarter of 2024. I want to thank our compliant stakeholders for their cooperation in supporting us to achieve this level of collection.

“Reduced smuggling activities are a testament to affirm the compliance we are celebrating, and I can say the best is yet to come. We are not losing guard. Our tempo of vigilance is airtight, which attests to our capacity to detect smuggling and make seizures,” he said.

According to him, as the command engages in trade facilitation, anti-smuggling activities are done side by side, leveraging non-intrusive technology for cargo scanning and physical examination when necessary.