Revenue collection: Apapa Customs hits N227.3bn
*Impounds 142 containers
By Silas Onuoha :
The CAC showing seized items during press conference :
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Apapa Area Command, has collected a huge sum of over N227.3billion as revenue for the Federal Government.
The Customs Area Controller (CAC), of the Command, Comptroller Mohammed Abba-Kura, disclosed this during a press conference, yesterday.
The CAC said that N227.3billion was generated from January to June, 2020, despite low economic activities in the country caused by coronavirus pandemic.
He said, the amount
represents an increase of over N24billon, which is about 10.59 per cent increase, when compared to N203.2billion collected the previous year, 2019.
Comptroller Abba-Kura noted that despite the challenges facing the economy, Apapa Command maintains its commitments at ensuring maximum revenue collection, trade facilitation and suppression of smuggling.
He said, “The secondary layers of checks and balances contributed greatly in recovering lost revenues, which escaped the first layer in one way, or the other.
”From our records, there is steady improvement in revenue collection all through half year of 2020, except in the month of May, which recorded a decline of about N3.5 billion, when compared to May 2019”.
According to him, the Command also intercepted 142 containers of various items due to infraction.
Other items seized include Rolls Royce 2018 and Lamborghini Hurracane sport car 2019 model worth N324.5million in Duty Paid Value, DPV.
A break down of seizures shows 64 containers of Pharmaceuticals ,32 containers of rice, 7 containers of used clothes and shoes, 25 containers of vegetable oil, 3 vehicles, 2 containers of packaging materials, 2 containers of detergents, one container of candy milk, one container of textile materials and one container of used tyres, among others.
The DPV for the seizures is N15.9billion.
The Command also recorded N52.3 billion in export during the period under review.
Speaking further, the CAC advised importers, exporters and their agents to ensure compliance with government guidelines on trade.
