Vincent Toritseju
08 September 2017, Sweetcrude, Lagos — DESPITE the economic recession that plagued the country in the last one year, Tin-Can Island Port Command of the Nigeria Customs Service generated N183 billion in the first eight months of this year compared to N156 billion in the same period.
Disclosing this in Lagos yesterday, the Customs Area Comptroller, Bashar Yusuf said that the Command has had a sustained high revenue profile since the beginning of the year, a feat that the Controller attributed to deliberate creative policies and stimulus plans aimed at blocking all possible areas of Revenue loss
He explained that the increase in revenue generation was attributed to the high compliance level of fiscal policies of government by stakeholders operating in the ports.
Yusuf said that the Revenue for August alone stood at over N28 billion, which is the highest in the annals of the Command, particularly in the corresponding periods over the years past.
“It therefore implies that but for the exclusion of forty-one (41) items from Forex window, the Command could have doubled it’s revenue profile.
“The Command is becoming more thorough in its Revenue drive, to the extent that all high yielding Revenue consignments are closely monitored to avoid circumvention of procedure,” he said.
Explaining further, Yusuf said that Command will continue to develop adequate operational template and modalities that will be capable of entrenching integrity of his operations.
He however advised recalcitrant agents and other port users to toe the path of sanity through honest declaration in their documentations noting that integrity, due diligence, honest declarations and transparency are key elements in 21st Century Customs Operations.
Similarly, Yusuf enjoined officers in charge of terminals to exhibit high moral and ethical standard and reiterated the importance of leadership skills as critical to success to customs operations.
On his plans for the ember months, the Controller pointed out that high cargo traffic is usually expected at this period of the year and advised importers to desist from importing uncustomed goods in view of it’s implication “All Importers ought to be conversant with the external tariff, especially schedules
