By Stephe Ubanna
More facts have emerged why Comptroller Olomu , Area Conntroller, Apapa Command, could beat his chest that he has fully implemented Bashir Adewale Aniyi, MFR, the Customs Comptroller General’s mandate to ensure ‘’time release study of cargoes to facilitate trade, which was said to have made the Apapa port the first choice or importers with their agents in taking delivery of their cargoes.
The Apapa Customs Comptroller who was said to have appealed to the importers with their agents ’’to embrace legitimate trade’’ was said to have made it clear to those to listen that’’ the Command is more alive to its responsibilities to detect all forms of Concealment, under-valuation and over-invoicing’’ as it had successfully blocked areas of revenue Leakage at the Command to the barest minimum. He is right.
Given the tight security measures that he was said to put in place over the last three months to effectively monitor the clearing of Containerised cargoes and bulk cargoes at the port and other terminals superintended by the Command in Lagos and its environs, it was said to have yielded outstanding results.
An insider confirmed that DC. Frank Oyeka and his officers at the exit gate are doing, to ensure that there is nothing like revenue loss but maximum collection of duties by the Command have made the agents and their Customs Collaborators to ensure that the right thing is done.
The source confirmed that even when the Customs Deputy Comptroller, overseeing the exit gate is sick, he would still report at the exit gate to ensure that the right thing is done, to avoid giving room to the officers of the Federal operations Unit, FOU, Zone A, stationed at strategic locations between the port and Mile II, to top any Container released and found to have contravened the government fiscal policies, transfer it to the Ikeja premises of the Command for re-examination.
This may have informed why the examination officers who are used hobnobbing with the agents in the past to cut corners may have known that they would have a big problem at the exit gate that they have become very careful to avoid playing into the hand of DC. Oyeka, the officer in-charge of the exit gate, who appears to be acting out a script of the Area Controller who has the mandate of the Customs Comptroller to ensure that he Command meets its monthly revenue collections.
. He had said that the Command daily, weekly and monthly evaluation of the Command activities by his office to oversee the progress it is making have gone a long way to improve the Command revenue collections.
The Customs Area Controller had said that worthy of note also in boosting the Command’s monthly revenue collections paid into the Federation are ‘’ the interventions’’ from the Tariff and Trade Department, at the Customs Headquarters, the Command Compliance desk, dispute Resolution Team, Valuation, Post Clearance Audit, PCU, Customs Intelligence Unit, CIU, and other Units . The various units, he had said had contributed immensely at promoting seamless trade in Nigeria
A Statement issued by Abdullahi Usman, a Chief Superintendent of Customs and the Command spokesperson SA shows that in the month of July, the premier Command had collected and paid into the Federation Account, to over N201, billion, bringing the total amount collected and paid into the account in seven months to N1,2320,016.24, trillion, described as unimaginable at this tying times because of the downturn in the global economy , which is having its adverse effect on the nation’s economy as well.
The Apapa Comman spokesperson, may have shocked Nigerians when he disclosed that ‘’the total revenue collected by the Command in the seven months that was paid into the Federation account wass higher than the total revenue collected by the Command and paid into the Federation account for the 12 months of 2023’’, meaning that something was wrong somewhere.
Not may are surprised at the Apapa Command, July, 2024, revenue collections paid into the Federation account. This is because the athletic-built Apapa Area Controller, who looks simple and always smiling and who is not in any way aggressive like some of his counterparts may want to look to show that they are doing the work knows his onions.
He was said to have given his words to Adeniyi, the Customs Comptroller General that he will work assiduously ‘’to improve revenue generation of the Apapa Command and facilitate trade/ fight smuggling activities. He was said to have also promised to fully abide by the provisions of the Customs and Excise Management Act, CEMA, CEMA, 2023, which had been signed into Law, in April 2023, by former President Muhammadu Buhari. True to his promise, he has kept to it.
Olayemi Michael Cardoso, governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, may have made the Customs Comptroller’s job easier following ‘’the bank discontinuation of implementation of its Price Verification system, PVS, Portal’’, effective from July 1, 2024, due to recent developments in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.
Note that the PVS, portal is an online platform introduced by the apex Bank to ensure that the prices of goods and services for Foreign Exchange Transactions are accurately verified to prevent over-invoicing and under-invoicing and ensuring fair pricing in Nigeria’s imported cargoes
. The apex Bank Authorities, may have gladdened the heart of the importers with their agents when it issued a circular, late June, 2024, that all applications for Form M, will now be validated without the need for a Price Verification Report generated from the PVS portal.
This may have may have gone a long way to improve importation of cargoes into the county and indeed, more revenue collections by the Apapa Command and other Customs Command involved in revenue collections.
. For a Command that handles over 60% of the country’s importation, It was not much of a problem for Compt. Olomu and Wale Adenuga, DC.Revenue, whose eyes are at the APM, terminal located inside the premier port and other terminals superintended by the Command outside the port, to ensure that all imports documents presented to his office for clearance comply with the provisions of the CEMA ACT, 2024 to ensure that appropriate duties were paid to avoid the importer’s Container that had been released being stopped at the e exit gate for one import offence or the other by vigilant DC. DC. Oyeka.
A senior Customs officer who spoke to The Value News on conditions of anonymity disclosed that since the CBN, Price Verification Report is no longer a requirement for completing Form M, which is one of the conditions that had been spelt out by the apex Bank in the past before any importer can embark on any importation of cargoes has been cancelled may brought the best in Compt. Olomu, in the area of revenue collections.
This may have informed why Maritime analysts had said that much is expected from the Command which handles over 60% of the country’s importation, for the remaining months of the year as importation is expected to rebound, though, it takes time from concluding a particular transaction, transfer of funds from country of origin to Nigeria .
There are fears in both official and official circles that the Command may not be able to generate as much revenue as it has generated in the month of July, 2024, because of the government new Fiscal policy ‘’suspending collection of duties and taxes’’ on imported food items and Pharmaceutical products, which is expected to last 150 days as a way to force down food items and Pharmaceutical products prices across the country.
Recall that the ongoing protests across the country organized by the Take Back Movement had been premised on Hunger and Hardship and given that a significant amount of food consumed in the country , is imported may have informed why the Nigerian Government has taken the bold policy initiative ‘’to cushion the effect of cost of food importation’’.
Make no mistake about it that the government may change its position at the last minute as the Customs Comptroller General had said it loud and clear , that the service is committed ‘’to the implementation of the government fiscal policy to bring down the prices food Items in the markets and drugs in the Pharmaceutical shops’’, meaning that there would be significant drop in the Apapa and Customs Formations revenue collections as soon as the Customs Authorities put the implementation of the new fiscal policy into action.
