ZAINAB JUNAID
Just as Apapa Port Command of the Nigeria Customs Service raked in an impressive revenue of N1,227,431,323,016.24 between January and July 2024, with N201,853,406,964.61 collected for the month of July only, first of it’s kind, Customs Area Controller of the Command, Comptroller Babatunde Olomu, fsi has pledged to surpass existing records of revenue collected in the Command.
Comptroller Olomu made the pledge in a press statement signed by the Command’s Spokesman CSC Abubakar Usman on Wednesday, saying “I am optimistic about the possibility of beating this record as we look forward to surpassing it in months to come”.
Olomu disclosed that the collected revenue for seven months of 2024 is higher than the total revenue collected for the twelve months of 2023
He attributed the feat to his implementation of the Comptroller General of Customs thrust of time release study to facilitate trade without delay. This move, according to him, yielded the outstanding results, which reflects in the command’s revenue collection.
Expressing confidence in the command’s ability to do better, Comptroller Olomu said, “I am optimistic about the possibility of beating this record as we look forward to surpassing it in months to come.
“For the first seven months of 2024, that is January to July this year, the Apapa Area Command generated a total of N1,227,431,323,016.24.
What has been generated so far for seven months is above the total collected revenue by the command in 2023, which was N1,172,414,793,960.32.
“In clear terms, our 2024 seven months collection is above last year’s twelve months total collection. Worthy of note is the interventions from the Tariff and Trade Department, which has contributed immensely to the successes achieved thus far.
Our compliance desk, dispute resolution team, Valuation, PCA, CIU and other units aimed at promoting seamless trade have been reinvigorated with daily,weekly and monthly evaluation by my office to oversee the progress we are making.
“We are committed to doing more in line with the directives and motivating examples of the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR dsm psc (+).
Apapa Command handles the highest volume of trade for the NCS, collects the highest revenue, and therefore is saddled with a higher degree of expectation from the management of the service and the government, ” he said.
Comptroller Olomu met with stakeholders at the port before the commencement of the nationwide protests to assure them of customs availability for work during the period, a move that has further strengthened port users’ confidence
He advised Apapa port users to embrace only legitimate trade and restated that Apapa command is more alive to its responsibilities to detect all forms of concealment and plug any avenue for revenue leakage to the barest minimum.
