By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said its revenue grew by 74 per cent or N1.9 trillion to N4.49 trillion in 2023 from the N2.25 trillion recorded in 2022.
The Comptroller-General (C-G) of Customs, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday to mark his one year in office.
He spoke against the backdrop of huge distortions in business planning caused by frequent changes in exchange rates over the past few months.
“The NCS reported a remarkable 74 per cent growth in revenue collection over the past year, recording a total revenue collection of N4.49 trillion between June 2023 and May 2024, compared to the N2.58 trillion collected during the corresponding period of the previous year.
“This achievement was underpinned by a sustained increase of 70.13 per cent in average monthly revenue collection compared to the previous year. NCS recorded an average monthly revenue collection of N343 billion, compared to the N202 billion monthly average.
“Notably, there was a substantial 122.35 per cent rise in revenue collection during the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in the previous year,” Mr Adeniyi stated.
The gains, the customs chief said, were attributable to the N15 billion recovery by the Revenue Review Performance Recovery exercise; N2.79 billion recovered from the 90-day window for the regularisation of the documents of uncustomed vehicles; N1.5 billion recovered from the decongestion of 1,705 overtime containers and 981 vehicles from the port.
“It is also worthy to note that on June 13, 2024, NCS recorded a daily All-Time-High of N58.5 billion in revenue collection,” he added.
The deployment of officers to sensitive posts based on merit and capacity, the CG also said, was key to the performance recorded within the period under review.
On the trade facilitation mandate of the NCS, Mr Adeniyi said that the decongestion of ports and the re-opening of previously inaccessible access roads have played key roles.
“Particularly noteworthy is the NCS’s recent ranking under the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), which aims to streamline business operations in Nigeria through reforms and policies.
“Ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) are ranked by activities under eight broad indicator levels, including efficiency reforms based on service delivery within stipulated timelines, transparency reforms, the review and update of Service Level Agreements, and support for manufacturing and agriculture export.
“Between 2020 and 2022, the NCS maintained an average percentage score of 18.45 per cent, ranking 28th out of the 37 MDAs ranked. By 2023, the NCS ranking fell further to 34th out of 39 MDAs, with a percentage score of 18.53 per cent.
“However, by 2024, I am delighted to announce that the NCS moved up 33 places, now tied at the top with 4 other MDAs out of the 36 MDAs assessed, with a percentage score of 100 per cent, marking an 81.5 per cent increase. This remarkable improvement is directly attributed to the trade facilitation measures implemented within the past year.”
The NCS boss added that the designation of a dedicated terminal for exports has yielded significant gains, facilitating the processing of export goods through the Lilypond Command.
“Initially handling 317 Single Goods Declarations (SGDs) in transactions, the terminal now manages 7,464 SGDs, accounting for 19.49 per cent of the total 38,294 export transactions recorded in 2023. By the first quarter of 2024, the Service has processed a total of 10,786 transactions, with 3,162 (29.32 per cent) of these processed through the dedicated export terminal,” he said.
He said the NCS’s anti-smuggling efforts in the past year resulted in significant interceptions, high-value seizures, and numerous arrests, including 63 seizures related to animal and wildlife products valued at N566 million”.
Modupe Gbadeyanka