Customs Area 1 Port Harcourt Generates N106.6bn in Six Months

By Bon Peters

About N106.6 billion has been generated as revenue in the first six months of 2024 by the Port Harcourt Area 1 Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

The spokesman for the command, Mr Oscar Ivara, a Superintendent of Customs (SC) by rank, said the formation was on the path to break new grounds in revenue generation.

In a statement issued on Thursday, he quoted the Comptroller of the Command, Mr Mustapha Hashim, as saying the revenue collected in each month of the first half of the year exceeded the mandated monthly target, which was averaged at N15.4 billion in the first quarter and N19.2 billion in the second quarter.

He revealed that the revenue generated in the period under review was higher than the N48.6 billion recorded in the first six months of last year by N58.0 billion or 119 per cent.

“The efforts put in place by the command to create an enabling environment for trade had played a major role in the astronomical rise in the revenue profile of the area,” Mr Hashim stated, adding, “The revenue collected in the first half of the year, all made over 100 per cent variance with the corresponding period of 2023, particularly in May and June which stood at N25.0 billion and N20.5 billion, respectively, thereby changing the revenue landscape when compared with the corresponding period of 2023 which had N6.2 billion and N9.6 billion, respectively.”

The Comptroller further revealed that the rise varied from the different tax heads which included Import duties, fees, excise duties, Value Added Tax (VAT), federation account levies and, non-federation account levies which are all derived from various bulk cargoes such as Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), bitumen, salt, automotive gas oil,(ago), frozen fish, among others.

While promising for a conducive business environment, Mr Hashim said, “The command is poised to make the environment more conducive to traders,” but was quick to point out that “emphasis would be placed on thorough physical examination of Cargoes to forestall smuggling.”

He reiterated that the command was in full compliance with the federal government policy of ease of doing business by ensuring that examinations are jointly conducted and clearance processes are in accordance with the Time Release Study (TRS) initiated by the World Customs Organization (WCO).

The customs officer, however, warned that “any attempt to use the command to smuggle illicit drugs or nefarious items such as Arms and Ammunition into the country would be met with severe sanctions.”