By Stephen Ubanna and Joy Enamuna
When Compt. Adekunle Oloyede, assumed duties at Tincan Island Command last February following his redeployment from the Information, Communication, Technology, ICT and Modernisiation Department , at the Customs Headquarters to the Command , importers with their agents who indulge in fraudulent activities to exit their vehicles and cargoes at the various terminals located within and outside the port knew that they were in for trouble.
The Customs Comptroller had promised of ‘’blocking all areas of revenue leakage at the Tincan Island port as a way to improve the Command’s monthly revenue generation, which had been pegged at a daily revenue collection of N2.5 billion, by the Hameed Ali, a retired Army Colonel, led Management Team from the service total revenue target of N3.01 trillion for the 2022, Fiscal year.
Indeed, signs that the terminal Operators, importers with their agents may run into trouble with the Tincan Island Command Customs boss, regarded as a digital guru and expert in the interpretation of the Customs II, Platform, in Customs circles, had emerged with ‘’ the approval for implementation of the 2022, Fiscal Policy Measures and Amendment by President Muhammadu Buhari last March’’.
The Katsina state born Nigerian President had approved the 2022, Fiscal Policy Measures ,made up of the Supplementary Protection Measures, SPM, for the implementation of the Economic Community Of West African States, ECOWAS, Common External Tariff, CET, 2022- 2026 and Excise duties on Non-Alcoholic beverages, Alcoholic beverages, Cigarettes and Tobacco products as well as Telecommunication services with effect from April 1, 2026.The approved SPM, according to a to a top official of the Federal ministry Of Finance, Budget and National Planning comprise of ‘’Import Adjustment Tax, IAT, list with additional taxes and Levy on the extant tariff Lines on 172 ECOWAS CET.
The worst hit in the new tariff policy measures were the importers of underage vehicles as those manufactured between 2001 and 2012, were made to pay the same duty with used vehicles manufactured in 2013 before it could be exited from the port. This is an indications that if a Volkswagen vehicle. For istance, manufactured in 2013, imported into the country could attract a N1 million duty, importers of vehicles that were manufactured between 2001 and 2012, would also be made to pay the same amount as duty to exit the vehicle from the port .
Prior to the implementation of the 2022, Fiscal policy measures, importers with their agents who had penetrated the ranks of the Valuation officers andTerminal Operators to going into deals knew that the game was up. They may have realised that Customs II Platform would fish them out and that all unpaid assessment on vehicles exited through the port must be paid.
There cases , according to an agent who spoke to The Magazine on condition f anonymity where vehicles in which the agents ought to have paid N1 million as duty, to exit the client’s vehicle but had bargain with the Customs and Terminal officials to pay below the amount and still exit the vehicle and cargo from the Five Stars Logistics terminal.
An informed source told The Value News that the fraud had been on for years at the Five Stars Logistics Terminal and Port Multi-services Terminal Limited, PTML, which have RORO facilities to handle vehicle imports at the Tin can Island port.
Note that the ban on the importation of vehicles through the Land border stations by the Nigerian President on January 1, 2017, may have added pressure to the two vehicle terminals as many of the Transit vehicle and cargo importers using the Autonomous port of Benin, Cotonou, in Benin Republic were forced to Relocate to the Nigerian ports to take delivery of their vehicle imports.
Many believe that Compt. Oloyede, may have beamed his searchlight on the vehicles imported and exited through the Five Stars Logistics, which Uche Egesieme, a Chief of Superintendent of Customs and the Tin can Island Command , spokesperson, had said are’’ very critical to their operations as duties collected on vehicle imports through the port alone, accounts for about 30 % of its monthly revenue’’.
The Tin can Island Customs boss may have taken advantage of Customs Automation of its Operations and implementation of Customs II, platform, to expose the fraud as the system was said to have triggered off when it discovered a N97.3 million unpaid Assessment debt of vehicles that had exited the terminal, within an interval of three months.
The source disclosed that when the over N90 million unpaid Assessment debt was discovered at the terminal, the Customs Headquarters was quickly communicated about it in order to take all the necessary action to recover the debt. The Customs Authorities were said to have taken up the matter with the Five Stars Management.
The response of the Terminal Operator to queries issued over the unpaid assessment debt and the shipping Companies Manifest showing that the vehicles THAT had accumulated the debt had exited through the Five Stars Terminal may have encouraged the Customs Management to deactivate the company from its Portal that it could not interface with its Customs II Platform for much of last week.
This was said to have been quickly followed up on Friday, July 15, 2022, with the blockage of the Terminal entrance and exit gate, thus making it impossible for the Freight Forwarders and Customs Brokers to exit their Clients vehicles and cargoes already released from the Terminal.
Godfrey Nwosu, an official of African Association of Professionals, Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria, APFFLON, lamented that before the blockage of the Five Stars Logistics exit gate , agents have not exited their clients vehicles and cargoes for the past one week from the facility.
He disclosed that when the Leadership of the Association took up the matter with the Management of the Terminal facility over the unpaid Assessment debt of exited vehicles which were said have been cleared and pushed the Nigerian market , they were said to haveclaimed that the vehicles were imported through the Autonomous port of Benin, which the shipping company had said was manifested at the terminal .
The Customs allegations of the unpaid assessment debt of N97.3 million against Five Tars Logistics terminal, may have informed why Kayode Farinto, acting President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, NLCA, has advised members ‘’ to be calm and not to the take the Law into their hands that may force the Terminal operator to do what may further aggravate their problem with the Customs Authorities.
He was said to have urged the agents ‘’ to keep the receipts of all payments at the Five Stars Logistics within the period the Customs system that triggered off had shown that the N97.3 million debt was accumulated.
By truncating their business for over a week over the unpaid assessment debt of exited vehicles through the Five stars Logistics terminal terminal, may have strengthened the resolve of the importers with their agents never to grease the palm of any Customs officer or Terminal Officials after paying the appropriate duty on their clients imported vehicle. The Customs II, Platform may have made things easy for the importers as they could stay in the comfort of their office to process their import documents and make all the necessary payments to take delivery of their snag. The only snag , they may still have was that they may still the need the services of the Freight Forwarders and Customs Brokers, who have agencies to do the capturing and facilitate the release of the cargo from the port for an 50, 00 fee
CSC Egesieme, the Tin can Island Command spokesperson, may have spoken the mind of the mind of the Tin can Island Area Controller , when he said last Friday that ‘’the terminal may not be reopened for normal business for now until the N97.3 million unpaid assessment debt are cleared.
He had said told those that cares to listen that ‘’ There is nothing that the Command could do for now as the matter was beyond it’’, noting that as a critical stakeholder to the Nigerian project, ‘’the service will continue’’ to demonstrate its capacity to enforce its responsibility of revenue collection, recovery of lost revenue for the government incurred through underpayment, Trade Facilitation and suppression of smuggling’’.
A source had confirmed that ‘’there are windows in the Customs and Excise Management Act, CEMA CAP 2004. Which provides fora refunds if the company could convince the Customs Authorities with the relevant receipts to show that there was no basis for the debt.
The source had told the Magazine that the Customs Authorities may have given the Terminal Operator a soft landing to facilitate the reopening of the facility between now and next Friday being the first time such a fraud could be traced to the Company which is conscious of its public image and fear of losing its Customers to its major local Competitor, PTML.
This may have informed why most of the agents are optimistic that the Terminal would be reopened for business and to exit already cleared clients’ vehicles and cargoes at the port.
