The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has indicated that it has started working with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to achieve a stable exchange rate for imports.
The Comptroller-General (C-G) of Customs, Mr. Adewale
Adeniyi disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja yesterday to mark his one
year in office.
He spoke at the backdrop of huge distortions in business
planning caused by frequent change in exchange rate over the past few months.
Meanwhile, he also said the NCS generated N4.49 trillion
revenue in the last one year.
He stated: “The NCS reported a remarkable 74% growth in
revenue collection over the past year, recording a total revenue collection of
N 4.49 trillion between June 2023 and May 2024, compared to the N 2.58 trillion
collected during the corresponding period of the previous year.
“This achievement was underpinned by a sustained increase of
70.13% in average monthly revenue collection compared to the previous year. NCS
recorded an average monthly revenue collection of N 343 billion, compared to
the N 202 billion monthly average.
“Notably, there was a substantial 122.35% rise in revenue
collection during the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in the
previous year”.
The gains, Adeniyi said, were attributable to the N15
billion recovery by the Revenue Review Performance Recovery exercise; N 2.79
billion recovered from the 90-day window for the regularisation of the
documents of uncustomed vehicles; N 1.5 billion recovered from the decongestion
of 1,705 overtime containers and 981 vehicles from the port.
He added, “It is also worthy to note that on June 13, 2024,
NCS recorded a daily All-Time-High of N 58.5 billion in revenue collection.”
The deployment of officers to sensitive posts on the basis
of 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.
He said, “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%, 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%.
“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%, marking a 81.5% 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.
According to him, “Initially handling 317 Single Goods
Declarations (SGDs) in transactions, the terminal now manages 7,464 SGDs,
accounting for 19.49% 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) of these processed through the dedicated
export terminal.”
The NCS’s anti-smuggling efforts in the past year, he said
resulted in significant interceptions, high-value seizures, and numerous
arrests, including 63 seizures related to animal and wildlife products valued
at 566 million”.