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The newly appointed Customs Area Controller (CAC) Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service ( NCS) Comptroller Yusuf Malanta last week took over from his Predecessor, Ag. Assistant Comptroller General Mohammed Abba-Kura promising higher revenue generation from the command.
Speaking after receiving the handover notes last week in the command, Compt. Malanta called for attitudinal change among officers and men of the command charging them to work harder for more and better achievement.
According to him, On the 2020 revenue collected by the Command which was more than one-third of the total revenue generated by the service, Malanta said; “Last year’s revenue has little stitches following the COVID-19 pandemic. Noting that there are loopholes and lacuna that can and addressed and closed for the command to generate more revenue”.
Earlier in his valedictory message to officers and stakeholders, Ag. ACG Abba-Kura thanked the Almighty God for giving him the privilege, wisdom and ability to have steered the ship of the command in the last 23 months. In his words: “Precisely on the 18th of March 2019, I assumed the office of the CAC with a mission, and that mission was to consolidate on the legacies of my predecessors and to create an enabling environment where officers and stakeholders could work harmoniously for the betterment of the Nation”.
The Ag. ACG enumerated some of the achievement of the command under his watch as thus:
Collection of over Nine hundred and forty-six billion, two hundred and seventy-six million, five hundred and forty-three thousand, ninety nairas five kobos (N946,276,543,090.05); and remitted to the Federation and Non-federation Accounts accordingly.
improvement in the annual revenue collection from N404billion in the year 2018 to N423billion in the year 2019 thereby indicating an increase of N19 billion.
Increase of N95 Billion from N423 billion in 2019 to N518billion in 2020.
Increase in seizures and its Duty Paid Value (DPV) from 97 in the year 2018 to 114 in 2019 and 318 in 2020 respectively. In terms of DPV, the difference in the value of 2019 seizure and that of 2020 stood at N12.5 Billion, notable among these seizures were controlled drugs like Tramadol, Codeine among others. Securing court condemnation order on all seized items in the year 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 respectively indicating that these mentioned items are now forfeited to the federal government.
Transfer of one thousand one hundred and forty-seven (1,147) overtime containers from Government Warehouse to Ikorodu in conjunction with relevant government agencies and stakeholders.
Enforcing compliance to import and export guidelines leading to an increase in both revenue and the arrest of offending articles of trade.
Quick and prompt resolution of disputes, which allows importers to take delivery on board and resolve issues, adding that in some cases, consignments were released referring to the Single Goods Declaration form (SGD) to Post Clearance Audit unit (PCA) for follow up.
Winning the World Customs Organization (WCO) Certificate of Merit for the year 2020 for outstanding performance, also training of 404 senior officers of the Command in various aspect of customs operations and also training of various shareholders on the operation of Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System (NICIS) to enable them to be on the same page with customs operations.
Resuscitation of the Commands’ gym centre to a modern one. Construction of model clinic in the command to address medical emergencies for both officers and stakeholders and renovation of the entire administrative block of the command, equipping offices with air- conditioners and other valuable office equipment among others.
In his response, Compt. Malanta whose coming to the command can be said to be a home-coming one since he is not new to the terrains of the command acknowledged the command as being a place where compliant traders are treated with dispatch on a fast track basis and assure that the command under his watch would continue to build on existing legacies of his predecessor.
He solicited more than the cooperation and support that was given to his predecessor from officers and stakeholders in order for them to work as a team, advising officers to be mindful of their duties and follow right procedures in carrying out their jobs.