The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigeria Customs Service (NCS)

  • FG should remove hindrances, check corruption at seaports -Experts

    Dr Samuel Nzekwe, former President, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) on Thursday advised the Federal Government to remove all hindrances delaying the clearing of goods at the seaports.

    Nzekwe, who gave the advice in an interview with journalists in Ota, Ogun added that the move would boost the nation’s revenue.

    “The Federal Government should make clearing of vehicles and other goods easier at the seaports because Nigeria is losing huge revenue to neighbouring countries,’’ he said.

    The financial expert added that there was the need for government to look into reasons why people preferred to use the land border than the seaports.

    He said that if seaports were conducive for clearing of goods, the issue of bringing vehicles through land border would not happen.

    The  Federal Government on Monday banned the importation of vehicles into Nigeria through land borders.

    The Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr Wale Adeniyi, said this in a statement he made available to newsmen on Monday in Lagos.

    Nzekwe stressed that the ban on importation vehicles through the land borders would reduce government revenue in the short-run.

    He, however, urged the government to address corruption among the customs officials, so that more funds could be generated into the nation’s treasury.

    Another expert, Dr Titus Okunronmu, former Director, Budgetary Department, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), however, expressed concern on the ban on the importation of vehicles through land borders.

    He said that the ban might not achieve its objective, considering the size of the country.

    Okunronmu also stressed the need for government to tackle sharp practices among customs officials with a view to making them accountable for money collected in the discharge of their duties.

  • NCS deploys 230 Customs officers to North-East

    NCS deploys 230 Customs officers to North-East

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has approved the deployment of 230 of its personnel from commands in Lagos, Ogun and Rivers to the North East commands.

    The deployment was contained in a circular issued on Thursday by Mr Austen Warikoru, the Deputy-Comptroller General (DCG), Human Resources Department.

    Warikoru said that the affected officers would be deployed to Zone D’ comprising Yobe, Borno, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Adamawa and Gombe.

    He said that the officers were drawn from the Seme,Tin-Can, Apapa, Ogun and Onne commands.

    The DCG said that the deployment was a routine exercise intended to strengthen the operations of the service nationwide.

  • Senate seeks new laws for Customs to block leakages

    Senate seeks new laws for Customs to block leakages

    The Senate is considering new laws for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) that will effectively block revenue leakages in the service.

    The Senate Committee on Customs and Excise which began the tour of Customs facilities in Abuja Wednesday gave the hint at NCS headquarters, Abuja.

    The committee said that the new laws would fashion ways and means to increase revenue generation capacity of the service by blocking all sources leakages.

    Chairman of the Committee, Senator Hope Uzodinma, insisted that the Service should be generating enough revenue to fund the country’s annual budget.

    Uzodinma expressed disapproval at a report by the Ministry of Finance which indicated that the NCS had only generated less than N400 billion in 2016.

    Uzodinma said that the Senate will likely re-enact the Act establishing the NCS for optimal performance.

    He said, “We are looking into the operations of Customs Service, looking at the areas of revenue generation and possible leakages with a view to finding solution.

    “We have done a very detailed work here we have established contacts with the commands.

    “All we are interested in doing is to bring up a robust position that will help the NCS earn more revenue.

    “In order to do that effectively we are looking at their current modus operandi with a view to refining how things are done so that more revenue can accrue to the Service.

    “By the time we look at the operations of some of these ports, we will come back and look at how best to amend and alter the existing Act.

    “We want to create a document that will be bold enough to earn the country the kind of revenue we are looking for from non-oil sector.

    On the report that oil majors were not accessible to the Service for payment of levies, Uzodinma noted that “these are some of the areas that require enabling laws.”

    He added, “There are some limitations that have not made it possible for Customs to perform the way they should according to their mandate.

    “Those are things that we will also look at and remove all obstacles to enable them function effectively.”

    The committee requested for the submission of some relevant documents to enhance its work.

    It gave the commission till Friday October 28, 2016 to submit the requested documents and answer all the queries posed.

    Among others, the committee sought to know how the seven per cent Negotiable Duty Credit is managed as well as how it handled seized cargoes and overtime cargoes.

    The Service is also expected to submit details of how it handles seized cigarette and alcohol, record of auctioned overtime cargoes as well as auctioned seized cargoes.

    The committee also sought the record of all waivers granted in the last three years and the value of the waivers.

    The detailed record of sugar levy is also to be submitted to the committee as well as other details of accruable revenue.

    The Comptroller General of NCS, Col. Hameed Ali assured the committee of the full cooperation of the Service.

    Ali directed his officials to provide the committee with all the information and documents required.

     

  • Custom seizes rice worth 597.7bn

    Custom seizes rice worth 597.7bn

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said it seized rice worth N597.7 billion brought into the country through the borders between January, 2016 and August, 2016.

    The Public Relations Officer of the service, Mr Wale Adeniyi, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.

    He said that the worth of the commodity confiscated during the period was higher when compared with N330.5 billion value of the good seized in the same period in 2015.

    He said that the increase in the seizures was an indication that the customs was operating zero tolerance to illegal importation of rice.

    Adeniyi said that the service’s rapprochement with its counterpart in the Republic of Benin also facilitated the spate of confiscation of rice along the borders between both countries.

    “Our seizure on rice from January to August was N597.7 billion as against N330.5 billion during the same period in 2015; this shows a huge increase.

    “The number of seizures from the statistics shows that smugglers now know that it is no longer profitable to bring in rice through the borders.

    “So, since importation of rice is now restricted to the ports as even smugglers with one bag of rice are arrested.

    “We have a number of arrests, particularly those using motorcycles, donkeys and even small vehicles.

    “Rice is a bulk cargo imported into Nigeria. After the meeting we had with our colleagues from the Republic of Benin, we went all out on zero tolerance on importation of rice,’’ Adeniyi said.

    He said that the volume of rice coming into the country through the borders was currently relatively low, adding that more of the commodity were being brought in through the ports.

  • Customs seizes 1,533 generators, 542 poultry products

    Customs seizes 1,533 generators, 542 poultry products

    In a major operation, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has seized 1,533 generators and 542 cartons of banned frozen poultry products with a street value of N37,562,000.

    The generators were found on a Mack truck on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway; the poultry products were impounded in a minibus on the Sagamu-Ijebu-Ode Expressway.

    The generators are the two stroke type, popularly known as I pass my neighbour.

    The Shittu Almaruf-led Customs team, investigation revealed, prowl approved and unapproved routes across Ogun State in pursuit  of smugglers.

    It was learnt that the Customs may have put generator dealers around Shagamu, Mowe/Ibafo, Idiroko, Owode, Alapoti, Lusada and Atan out of business.

    Investigation by The Nation revealed that the vehicles and the goods have been kept at the government warehouse, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

    “The items were subjected to 100 per cent examination to ascertain the quantity and confiscated in line with Sections 46 & 47 of the Customs Management Act, Cap 45 LFN.

    “The team is devising other means of ensuring that the activities of the smugglers in its area of operation are curtailed and we have been carrying anti-smuggling campaigns to all the nooks and cranny of Ogun State, to show them that we are deeply committed to the task of suppressing smuggling.

    “By seizing the generators, the Nigeria Customs is merely enforcing a law, which emanated from a memo of the Federal Ministry of Environment, advising the government on its health implications. The ban placed on the importation of I pass my neighbour generator is not new. It came into effect on April 28, 2011 and was officially gazette in May of the same year.

    “The Federal Government gazette No 47 Volume 98 stated categorically that the purpose of this regulation is to restore, preserve and improve the quality of air.

    “The ban is to safe guard citizens’ right and access to clean air, reduce/prevent air pollution and improve the health of Nigerians, especially in the urban areas with high incidence of air pollution; in view of the poisonous gaseous emission,” a source said.

    The source added: “With regard to the seized frozen poultry products, we are not relenting in our efforts to protect the health of Nigerians as well as the huge investments of our local farmers.

    “We will continue to make life difficult for smugglers and frustrate their efforts until they hearken to the voice of reason and stop sabotaging the efforts of the government.

    “These products, beyond the fact that they fall under the import prohibition list, are also very detrimental to human health, hence not good for consumption.”

    Almaruf told The Nation that the team would continue to go after smugglers retriving his men’t encounter with miscreants and street urchins, who pretend to be smugglers. He said such pressure would not deter the team from smuggling activities to its barest minimum.

  • New Customs chief yet to resume

    New Customs chief yet to resume

    The new Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hammed Ali (rtd) was yet to assume office, it was learnt yesterday.

    Officers and men of NCS have been apprehensive about the appointment of the new helmsman, whom they said is a “no nonsense man.”

    Ali’s appointment last week was expected to be with immediate effect, but the tension that gripped the Customs Headquarters, Zone 3, Wuse, Abuja has not letf.

    Its Deputy Public Relations Officer, Mr. Joseph Attah  who spoke on phone with  The Nation only said: “please no” to questions asked him.

    It was however learnt that President Muhammadu Buhari would inaugurate the new appointees and give them terms of reference before assumption of office.

    Our reporter also gathered that the management of the NCS is expecting the new boss this week.

  • Tin Can Island Port earns N240b revenue

    The Tin Can Island Port Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) realised N240.16 billion revenue in 2013.

    The Public Relations Officer of the Command, Chris Osunkwo,told the News Agency of Nigeria that the revenue was higher by N33.74 billion, or 16.35 per cent over the N206.412 billion recorded in 2012.

    He said as a vehicle port, the revenue came mainly from import duties paid on vehicles, levies paid on common external tariff , sugar, wheat flour, wheat grain and bulk goods, adding that the revenue generated from these items in December amounted to N20.06 billion.

    He attributed the increase in revenue to digitalisation and automation of the NCS operations at the port.

    Osunkwo also traced the increase in revenue to motivation and hard work of officers, whom he said, struggled to achieve the desired goals.

    He said initially the Command was sceptical that the introduction of Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) would create hiccups and cause reduction in revenue, saying that the introduction of PAAR, has eliminated all forms of delay in clearing of goods.

    He said any importers, or agents who lays claim to being delayed today in the port do not understand the new PAAR method.

    “It enables an importer to clear goods faster because the person would have processed his document electronically or on-line before the arrival of the cargo,’’ he said.

    The public relations officer said that the officers at the Tin Can Island port were motivated to work harder because of government’s circular on the introduction of PAAR to take care of all exigencies

  • Customs, others root for fast cargo clearance

    Customs, others root for fast cargo clearance

    IF concerted efforts by stakeholders in the maritime sub-sector is anything to go by, then it may be correct to say that the issue of congestion besetting the nation’s seaports will soon be a thing of the past.

    This was the optimism expressed by experts who participated at the colloquium organised by the Maritime Correspondents’ Organisation of Nigeria (MARCON) in conjunction with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in Lagos recently.

    Tagged: ‘Seamless Shipping in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges,’ the interface and discussion session addressed issues like pre-arrival assessment report mechanism and others.

    Firing the first salvo, the Comptroller General of Customs, Abdullahi Inde Dikko, in his paper titled: ‘Pre-Arrival Assessment Report: An Initiative for Trade Facilitation and Enhanced Cargo Security,’ said:”It is gratifying to note that we now have in place a robust platform and a fully automated application system to build on. With its capacity for shared intelligence and risk management, the development of the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) application system will signal the dawn of a new era in fostering compliant trade in a secure environment.”

    Dikko, who was represented by Deputy Comptroller Wale Adeniyi, who doubles as the Public Relations Officer Customs, noted that only a seamless operation, involving all stakeholders collaborating and complementing themselves, could deliver the much-needed objective of cost-effective and timely clearance.

    Echoing similar sentiment, two Customs officers reportedly employed in 2011, ASC II Yaro Abdullahi Ibrahim and ASC II Bukola Omoniyi, made a presentation on the workings of the PAAR mechanism.

    In their presentations, the officers established that the mandate of Customs in the shipping sector was in the area of striking a balance in trade facilitation, security and revenue generation.

    In his paper titled: ‘Preventing Arson and Damage to Cargo in the Transport Chain,’ Dr. Alex Okwuashi, Rector, College of Maritime Transport and Technology, urged stakeholders to intensify action in ensuring security in the nation’s maritime sector.

    Speaking earlier, President, MARCON, Ismail Aniemu regretted that though much had been said in the past about improving the imports and shipping system of the country, nobody was ready to take concrete steps in that direction.

    He, however, commended the current management of the Customs for taking huge steps to turn the sector around.

  • Tension in Presidency over plans to extend Destination Inspection contract

    Tension in Presidency over plans to extend Destination Inspection contract

    There is tension in the Presidency over plans by the Federal Ministry of Finance to extend the seven-year contract of four firms engaged by the Federal Government for Destination Inspection (DI).

    The companies are Cotecna Destination Inspection Nigeria Limited, SGS, Global Scan and Webb Fontaine.

    Many government officials, including ministers, have disagreed with the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, over the renewal of the contract.

    Also, it was learnt that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is unhappy over the plan because it will leave more than 300 Customs officers already trained abroad idle.

    The Federal Government, in January 2006, engaged the four firms in a seven-year year Build, Own, Operate and Transfer DI contract.

    The Customs was expected to be in charge of DI from last January.

    At the end of the contract, however, the Ministry of Finance, in a letter through its Permanent Secretary, Mr Danladi Kifasi, claimed that President Goodluck Jonathan had extended the tenor of the deal by six months.

    The letter addressed to the service providers, reads in part: “I wish to inform you that the President has approved the extension of the agreement dated January 1, 2006, between your company and the Federal Government for the provision, installation, operation and management of X-ray scanning equipment and software for inspection of goods. “The agreement, which is to expire on December 31, 2012, has been extended for a period of six months with effect from January 1, 2013.”

    But less than a month to the six-month extension, there is a fresh plan to renew the contract of the four firms by another six years.

    But the plan has pitched the Minister of Finance against some cabinet members who believe that it is against President Jonathan administration’s agenda to look inward.

    It was also learnt that the Customs is also unhappy that all its investment on multi-billion Naira DI equipment and training of 300 Customs would be a waste.

    A top government source said: “Everyone is worried that some public officers are trying to prevail on the President to grant these four companies a renewal of another six years. This means that they will be in charge of Nigeria’s DI for about 13 years.

    “This is insulting to this nation after we have trained more than 300 Customs officers to take over from the four firms.

    “The planned renewal is still in spite of the obvious infrastructural deficiency of some of the four companies.

    “For instance, several audit and assessment reports from Accenture, World Bank and Oversight Committees of the National Assembly on one of four companies were unsparing in their indictment.

    “Some cabinet members are opposed to another six-year term for the four companies at a time millions of youths are without jobs.”

    Another source said: “It is an issue being debated in government. Some of us are really in support of the NCS taking over because we are losing so much in revenue to the four companies as a nation.”

    The renewal is also said to be against a March 1, 2013 assessment of the World Bank, which has confirmed the Customs’ readiness to manage DI.

    A document obtained by our correspondent revealed the summary of the World Bank assessment of the Customs readiness for DI as follows:

    “NCS has progressively developed a range of skills necessary to take over classification and valuation activities performed by DI staff.

    “NCS is ready to assume control of scanning operations.”

    Other findings on NCS by the World Bank Team are: an executive committed to reform and a stable and competent management cadre; a young motivated and well-qualified workforce who are open-minded and keen to contribute; adequate professional competence in key fields, including many functions performed by DI’s (scanning valuation and classification); strong investments made in human resource development and major improvements in salaries and conditions of service for staff; a robust reform and modernisation strategy has been developed and implementation is progressing; and strong espirit de corps pride in NCS.

    Customs has taken the lead on border management reform and its leadership is not contested.

    Relatively well-equipped physical infrastructure, equipment and assets to be transferred.

    A document prepared by the Customs admitted the service’s readiness for the DI operation.

    The document states: “NCS has undertaken an enormous development of training courses for all officers involved in scanning, with specific training for each functional role.

    “NCS has also undertaken the selection and delivery of these courses to over 300 NCS officers. This is reinforced by a programme of coaching by experts who have years of experience in operating scanners for customs around the world. Radiation Safety Officer who holds an MSc. in Physics and has over seven years experience with x-ray scanners.

    “All of these officers are trained to international standards and qualified both from a United Kingdom Radiation Safety Company and will be further trained and assessed by an NNRA approved establishment.”

    But a source in the Ministry of Finance, said: “ At the appropriate time, the Minister will address the nation. I am sure all her policies are geared towards the best for Nigeria.

    “For instance, the same World Bank Report you have quoted gave the other flip of Customs readiness. Let me quote a part of the report as follows: “In spite of intense efforts and real progress, there are major gaps in the capacity of NCS to fully assume all currently outsourced activities.”