Despite the removal of the subsidy on the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Thursday, September 28, confirmed that smuggling of the product to the West African coast still persists.
The acting Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, made the confirmation in Abuja during a World Press Conference marking his 100 Days in office.
He said a NCS intelligence report has revealed that the country’s petrol is preferred to those of other countries on the West African coast.
According to him, it is not only the low cost of Nigeria’s petrol that makes it attractive to smugglers but also its quality.
Adeniyi, however, noted that although smuggling of the product out of the country still persists, the incidents have reduced.
He disclosed that the NCS has reviewed its strategies for combating petrol smugglers.
The Customs boss said the statistics of a report that was tabled before him from Seme Border before the press conference, indicated that there has been a decline in the smuggling of the product.
He said: “The issue of smuggling petroleum products in view of the comparative cost of buying PMS across West Coast. We have also done this analysis and what our seizure has shown is that the incident of smuggling still persists.
“Sometimes it is not about the comparative cost. Sometimes, smugglers and those who patronize these smugglers also look at the quality of the PMS. Some of the intelligence that we got from our neighbouring countries tend to suggest a preference for PMS in Nigeria because of the quality.
“But the incident from our seizure report has greatly reduced. What we want is if we are able to completely control and manage the smuggling of fuel across our border. We are reviewing our strategies. Just before I left the office my desk this morning, I was dealing with a report from Seme Border about the report over the weekend that was laid.
“So the statistics tend to show there is a reduction in the smuggling of petroleum products. We are not there yet to a level where we could say the smuggling of petroleum products has been completely controlled 100%.”
Adeniyi, who was asked whether the NCS could meet its 2023 revenue target, said despite the shortfall recorded in the First Half of the year, the NCS will surpass the revenue target of N3.6 trillion in 2023.
He blamed the shortfalls in revenue collections on the uncertainty, currency swap, and the general elections, which permeated the First Half of 2023.
He revealed that the service has reviewed its strategies to overcome those challenges and already recording a monthly average of N343 billion in July and August instead of the average monthly average of N200 billion.
The Customs boss was optimistic that if the service is able to sustain the July and August momentum, it will exceed the N3.6 trillion 2023 revenue target.
Asked whether the organization could realize the year’s revenue target, he said: “The revenue is in the region of N3.6 trillion. That was the target that was set for us and that translates to about N307 billion per month.
“So if we collect N307billion consistently for 12 months, we hope to realize that. You are all witnesses to what happened in the First Quarter of the year, the uncertainty, the currency swap, and the elections. During the First half of the year, we were able to collect an average of N202 billion per month. Since July and August we have reviewed our strategies and we have been doing better.
“It is an average of about N343 million a month since July and August. If we maintain this momentum, we hope that we will be able to cover the shortfall that we recorded in the First Half of the year. We are not saying the target is impossible, we will do our best to make sure the shortfalls we recorded are covered.”
Earlier, he noted that one of the NCS’ remarkable achievements under his watch has been enhanced monthly revenue collection.
According to him, the service has witnessed a substantial increase, with an average monthly collection of N202 billion in the First Half of the year that concluded in June, surging to an impressive 343 billion in the past two months (July and August).
He noted that this outstanding growth amounts to a remarkable 70.13% increase in revenue collection.
Adeniyi said, “I’m delighted to announce that we’ve consistently exceeded the monthly target collection of 307 Billion Naira, marking a remarkable departure from previous performances.
“The ongoing Revenue Recovery review activities have contributed an additional 8 billion Naira during this period, underlining our commitment to revenue generation.
Subject to unforeseen circumstances, our aim is to sustain and even expand this momentum until the end of the year.”
He explained that the commitment is driven by our resolve to minimize the deviation from the target, especially in light of the substantial shortfalls recorded during the first half of the year.
Adeniyi revealed that for the service to tackle the challenges in trade facilitation, it is working with the National Committee on Trade Facilitation, under the guidance of the Work Customs Organization, which will conduct a time release study in a pilot port from January to March 2024.
According to him, the aim of this study is to scientifically determine how long it takes to clear goods in Nigeria’s ports.
He said the objective of this will be for NCS to identify and understand why there are delays, where there are delays, and bring up measures to address the delays where they happen.
Adeniyi submitted: “I will just urge all our stakeholders to work with the National Committee on Trade Facilitation to support us in this time in this project so that for once we will have a study that is scientifically conducted and hopefully will be widely accepted by all stakeholders.”
