Customs generate N602bn, surpass revenue target

The Nigeria Customs Services on Wednesday said it had surpassed its revenue collection target for the 2011 fiscal year by generating N602bn to the coffers of the Federal Government.The achievement came with two months to the end of the 2011 fiscal year.A statement from the NCS stated that the Comptroller-General of Customs, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi, gave the figure in Abuja at the monthly Revenue Strategy meeting held with the customs management and area comptrollers.As at the end of October 2011, the service has generated a total of N602bn into the Federation Account. By the end of the year, we hope to have generated bonus revenue of over N100bn into governments coffers, he was quoted to have said.The revenue target for the year as set by the Federal Government was N596bn, but before 2011, the average monthly collection by the service was N30bn.This has progressively increased to a monthly average of N50bn in the first quarter of 2011.Towards the end of the second quarter, however, the NCS recorded an all-time high of N61.5bn in July, which was only surpassed by the N76.2bn August collection.Abdullahi attributed the feat to the stringent measures put in place to closely-monitor revenue performance and block leakages.The measures, according to him, include the creation of a system-audit unit in the headquarters to monitor duty payment in all the ports, automation of the entire customs clearance procedure, which allows for faster and smoother clearance and the improved quality of the workforce.Abdullahi also noted that the automation of excise payment procedures had greatly assisted in blocking leakages associated with the sector.Though excise duty is paid only on four locally-produced items in the country, they represent about 10 per cent of total collections.The year 2012 and beyond will hold better prospect for the service and the nation because of two major factors. First, the new Customs Staff College will start producing trained officers in modern customs management, while the existing service providers contracts will expire, leaving Nigerians to manage our affairs, he noted.
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