At least about N130.8 billion was raked into the coffers of the Federal Government by the Controller Tincan Island Port in seven months.
This disclosure was made by the Controller Tincan Island Port, Comptroller Y. U. Bashar when he had a chat with some strategic stakeholders in his office.
Bashar said the statutory function of the command remains revenue generation and facilitation of legitimate trade, as he stressed that deliberate and concerted efforts were being made in terms of strict adherence with the rules and standards of operation.
He pointed out that the operations, processes and procedures of customs are fully automated and computerized to the extent that trade facilitation could be guaranteed. He however reiterated that trade facilitation can only work when the importers and their agents are transparent in their declarations to Customs.
In another development, the Controller reacted to the current increase in the exchange rate for calculating import duty which is generating concern in the maritime sector. He pointed out that the Nigeria Customs Service as an Agency of the Federal Government is charged with the implementation of Federal Government’s fiscal policies in terms of trade.
“It is instructive to note that the Nigeria Customs Service by its statutory role, does not determine exchange rate, but only rely on the CBN to update us with the information in accordance with its establishing act”. It is therefore pertinent to note that the current situation is beyond the Customs.
The Controller added that the Command’s operational methodology is in sync with the change ideology of the Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd), which encompasses discipline, integrity, transparency and due diligence. He stated further that there is a paradigm shift in the operational system of the command geared towards strengthening the drive in ensuring that time of cargo delivery is reduced to the barest minimum. In the same vein, he expressed his passion for stakeholder engagement to strengthen professionalism, promotion of inter-agency collaboration and synergy to ensure robust relationship as well as “on the job capacity building” and also to enhance officers knowledge, particularly of modern trends and practices which promotes trade facilitation and due diligence.
The Controller highlighted that the command is under obligation to ensure zero tolerance to corrupt practices in line with global best practices as he called on stakeholders to support the Service in all aspects, so that maximum revenue can be generated in line with the vision and mission of the Nigeria Customs Service.
He stated that part of the measures put in place for the actualization of his mandate is the use of a specialized committee – “Dispute Resolution committee” and noted that the committee is charged and entrusted with the responsibilities of resolving contentious issues which might arise in areas of classification and valuation with a view to ensuring that such disputes are resolved using the statute books.
