The Apapa Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service in Lagos, once again, demonstrated capacity and doggedness in its revenue generation for the country as it collected a total of ₦86,022,748,549.77 (billion) in just one month — October 2021.
The brilliant performance is against the backdrop of initial hiccups that slowed down its operations.
Disclosing this at a press briefing, the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Malanta Yusuf, who has raised stakeholders’ compliance level as well as the degree and quality of inter-agency collaborations between Apapa Customs Command and other government agencies, said the high tempo in revenue collection is being sustained through increased volume of trade coupled with other strategies that the command had put in place.
He gave a breakdown of the total collection as Federation and Non-federation figures as follows:
First the Federation Account figures:
Import duty – ₦38,436,536,897.00 (Thirty-eight Billion, Four Hundred and Fifty-six Million, Five Hundred and Thirty-six Thousand, Eight Hundred and Ninety-seven Naira only)
Excise duty – ₦199,038,533.00 (One Hundred and Ninety-nine Million, Thirty-eight Thousand, Five Hundred and Thirty-three Naira only).
CET Levy – ₦5,625,077,502.00 (Five Billion, Six Hundred and Twenty-five Million, Seventy-seven Thousand, Five Hundred and Two Naira only).
Fees – ₦401,830,622.00 (Four Hundred and One Million, Eight Hundred and Thirty Thousand, Six Hundred and Twenty-two Naira only).
All of which come to a subtotal of N44,662,483,554.00 (Forty-four Billion, Six Hundred and Sixty-two Million, Four Hundred and Eighty-three Thousand, Five Hundred and Fifty-four Naira only).
The Non-Federation Account is as follows:
Port Levy – ₦2,690,572,938.00 (Two Billion, Six Hundred and Ninety Million, Five Hundred and Seventy-two Thousand, Nine Hundred and Thirty-eight Naira only.
NAC – ₦165,872,139.00 (One Hundred and Sixty-five Million, Eight Hundred and Seventy-two Thousand, One Hundred and Thirty-nine Naira only).
1% CISS – ₦4,612,963,465.00 (Four Billion, Six Hundred and Twelve Million, Nine Hundred and Sixty-three Thousand, Four Hundred and Sixty-five Naira only).
0.5% ETLS – ₦2,688,286,656.00 (Two Billion, Six Hundred and Eighty-eight Million, Two Hundred and Eighty-six Thousand, Six Hundred and Fifty-six Naira only).
Sugar Levy – ₦598,518,814.00 (Five Hundred and Ninety-eight Million, Five Hundred and Eighteen Thousand, Eight Hundred and Fourteen Naira only).
Wheat Flour Levy – ₦488,959.00 (Four Hundred and Eighty-eight Thousand, Nine Hundred and Fifty-nine Naira only
Iron Levy – ₦47,220,994.00 (Forty-seven Million, Two Hundred and Twenty Thousand, Nine Hundred and Ninety-four Naira only).
Wheat Grain Levy – ₦7,892,567,890.00 (Seven Billion, Eight Hundred and Ninety-two Million, Five Hundred and Sixty-seven Thousand, Eight Hundred and Ninety Naira only).
Ness Levy – ₦102,989,524.77 (One Hundred and Two Million, Nine Hundred and Eighty-nine Thousand, Five Hundred and Twenty-four Naira, Seventy-seven Kobo only).
All of the Non-Federation Account figures amount to a sub-total of ₦18,799,481,379.77 (Eighteen Billion, Seven Hundred and Ninety-nine Million, Four Hundred and Eighty-one Thousand, Three Hundred and Seventy-nine Naira, Seventy-seven Kobo only), this is while also collecting as Value added tax, the sum of ₦22,560,783,616.00 (Twenty-two Billion, Five Hundred and Sixty Million, Seven Hundred and Eighty-three Thousand, Six Hundred and Sixteen Naira only), thus making the total of the revenue collected by the command, ₦86,022,748,549.77 ( Eighty-six Billion, Twenty-two Million, Seven Hundred and Forty-eight Thousand, Five Hundred and Forty-nine Naira, Seventy-seven Kobo).
While commending some of the port users and stakeholders for their increased level of compliance, Comptroller Yusuf urged them to shun unlawful activities such as concealment with intent to smuggle, false declaration and undervaluation to evade accurate duty payments.
According to him, any importation that runs contrary to the provision of sections 46 and 47 of Customs and Excise Management Act CAP C45 LFN 2004 and Customs and Excise Notices No.1491 will not be allowed into the country.
The Comptroller warned that the command will not compromise in its duties in any way, and as such, appropriate actions such as arrests, seizures and prosecutions will be applied against offenders wherever and whenever the need arises for such infractions.
Yusuf charged the command’s compliance team to maintain their zero tolerance for these illicit activities as a way of protecting the national economy.
Impressed by the performance attributable to collaboration, the CAC described the inter-agency collaborations between Apapa Customs and other government agencies as an “operational masterstroke’’ that is yielding great results.
Alluding to recent joint seizures of 32.9kg of cocaine, uncovered on a vessel, MV Cha Yankee Naree, at the Apapa Port in October and of 74.119kg, captagon pills hidden in various components of machine parts which were seized in September, Comptroller Yusuf lauded the sustained intelligence sharing between the command and sister agencies like the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Department of State Service (DSS), Nigeria Police, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Army and others.
He said only importers and agents who either want to smuggle or evade duty payments will fault the command and its very effective and growing synergy with these other agencies.
Yusuf, however, advised importers and agents to take advantage of the one-stop-shop compliance and dispute resolution mechanism aimed at achieving trade facilitation without compromising national revenue collection and security.