The Nigeria Customs Service’s Apapa Area Command reported a record revenue of N119 billion in June, making it the highest monthly collection to date.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, Abubakar Usman, released a statement on Wednesday, highlighting the remarkable achievement.
During his farewell session with senior officers of the command, the outgoing Customs Area Comptroller, Mohammed Auwal, revealed that the command had generated a total of N540 billion in revenue from January to July. In recognition of his exemplary service, Auwal was recently promoted to the rank of an Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs by the acting Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi.
Auwal attributed the improved revenue collection to a strong focus on compliance, which he emphasized as the cornerstone of port efficiency. He further acknowledged that the command’s success in revenue generation was a result of implementing measures to prevent leakage, maintaining a strict stance against duty evasion, and exercising due diligence despite facing reduced trade volumes.
In his closing remarks, Auwal expressed gratitude to the officers and stakeholders for their unwavering support, and he commended the effectiveness of various interventions, such as demand notices, in recovering identified shortfalls in revenue.
“Before now, N95b collected between January and August 2022 was the highest monthly collection.
The job of preventing prohibited items such as arms, ammunition, illicit drugs, and others under the import and export prohibition lists from entering or exiting the country through Apapa port was treated as a collective duty under his watch,” the statement read.
According to Auwal, inter-agency synergy and intelligence sharing are the first bold step in defeating criminals, who seek to use ports for their unlawful activities.
“Compliance is one word that appeals to both government and private sector stakeholders because we are all governed by rules to which we owe a duty to obey.
“Apapa port holds the potential to handle the highest volume of trade in West and Central Africa with the possibility of being a trade hub for seamless cargo movement if importers, agents, and freight forwarders comply by making sincere declarations and avoiding smuggling,” he concluded.