By Stephen Ubanna
Compt. Babatunde Olomu, Area Controller, Nigeria Customs Service, Apapa Command, appears to have set a revenue generation record that Customs Comptrollers who may be deployed to the Command in the future may have to work hard to beat.
From the onset, when his posting was said to have been released last May to take over from Compt. Babajide Jayeioba, who has retired from the service, Compt. Olomu, knew he has a big task at hand: To deliver, on the Comptroller General‘s mandate of improving the daily, weekly and monthly revenue collections of a Command that handles over 60% of the volume of cargo traffic coming into the country on a yearly basis.
The Customs Comptroller may have known that he cannot do it alone without carrying all the Management Team members and the entire officers along. He was said to have developed a one –on –one relationship with the members to understand their problems and how to assist them overcome such difficulties. He may have taken the bold initiative to ensure to ensure that the right thing is done.
The Apapa Command helmsman was said to have put a close tab on APM and other terminals superintended by the Command outside the port to effectively block Areas of revenue leakage, by being thorough in looking at importers’ sent to his office from the terminals. He was said to have given the Heads of the various Units and terminals the free hand to do their job to stepped up the release and delivery of cargoes to their owners without delay. Given that all that the bills of lading at the terminals at the Apapa port have to pass the exit gate manned by Frank Oyeka, a Deputy Comptroller, described as a disciplinarian in Customs Circles, may have informed why documents leave his office in record time on a daily basis.
Informed sources told the Value News that the Customs DC, who keeps an open door policy may not have allowed the pressure of work weigh him down not to look for the necessary details in all the bill of lading submitted to his office for proper scrutiny and signing vetting for vetting after going through the officers under him to ensure there is no mistake that might warrant officers of the Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A, Ikeja, Lagos, stop any cargo exited from the port and reroute to their Command for re-examination.
The Customs Deputy Comptroller, who shuttles between his office and the Command Customs Processing Centre, CPC, was said to have recovered billions of naira through issuance of Demand Notice,DN, which could have entered into private pockets for the government.
An agent who spoke the Online Magazine on condition of anonymity disclosed that no agent whoseclient’s document is in DC. Oyeka’s office will heave a sigh of relief or sure of taking delivery of his Consignment without any k-leg until it comes out from the DC’s office.
Unconfirmed report said that some agents who have had cause to challenge the DN, issued to them for contravening on the government fiscal policy by his officers and who have tried to raise their voice were said to have been calmed by him . In most occasions he was said to have personally intervened and after explaining the rationale behind the DN, issued were said to have accepted it and agreed to pay with a promise never to make such fraudulent declaration in the future.
Given the no compromise stance of the Customs Comptroller at the exit gate may have informed why the importers with their agents using the Apapa port to take delivery of their cargoes make appropriate declarations to pay the relevant duties to avoid playing into the hands of DC, Oyeka at the exit gate or DC. Nwanze, who is waiting in the wings to detain any Container for proper examination and subsequent seizure if it contravenes the government fiscal policy.
The no compromise policy of the Apapa Command Area Controller which was said to have been adopted by the DCs, holding strategic positions at the Command was said to have reflected on the Command’s revenue collection in the last nine months, thus giving hope to the Customs Authorities of the generating the N5.1 trn target set for the service this 2024.
Usman Abubakar, a Chief Superintendent of Customs and the Command spokesperson, may have spoken the mind of the Customs Comptroller, when he stated that the Command collected the sum of N1,610,906,81,21.82 trn , between January and September, ending, 2024, despite the drop in cargo throughput at the premier port , which many had attributed to the devaluation of the naira to the North American country of the United States, US, dollar.
At present, the exchange is about N1,700.00 to US, one dollar, in the official exchange rate market. Maritime analysts had attributed the impressive revenue collection of the Apapa Command in the nine months under review to the Area Controller’s teamwork.
The Apap Command spokesperson noted that the revenue collected by the Command within the first nine months of this 2024, was much higher than the amount collected within the same period in 2023, which was said to be N1,772,414,793,960.32.
The Athletic –built Apapa Command Area Controller, who has continued to receive phone calls from different quarters on how he was able to achieve the feat despite the low volume of cargo traffic through the port since the beginning of the year was said to have attributed it ‘’to the diligence and integrity of the officers just as the Command had continually engaged with the stakeholders to improve on the revenue collection drive and reduced smuggling activities at the port.
The Customs Comptroller had alluded to the N201.8 billion collected in the month of July, 2024, and N193.9 billion collected in September, 2024, and paid into the Federation account describing it as ‘’spectacular figures’’ capable of being replicated again this last quarter of 2024, because of the likelihood of an increase in ship and cargo traffic through the port due to the Christmas season.
Appreciating the sister government agencies for their support, the Customs Comptroller had said that ‘’the Command would continue to leverage on its relationship with them to share intelligence against fraudulent importers and clearing agents by ensuring that they do thorough joint examinations of cargoes at the terminals in line with extant standard operating procedures , SOPs, in order ‘’to promote compliance at all times’’.
Given an insider information of the various trade acilitation programmes that had been put place over the last one year by the Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, the Customs Comptroller General, which includes ‘’advance ruling, Time Release Study and Authorized Economic Operator, AEO’’, currently being implemented, at the premier port and other ports across the country, Compt. Olomu is optimistic that it will go a long to further enhance the revenue collection of the Command in the months ahead.
He had said that ‘’the strict monitoring of cargoes , constant profiling of port users and sensitization of stakeholders and in-house training and retraining of officers have equally contributed in no small measure to the almost zero level of smuggling activities at the port.
Indeed, the reduced smuggling activities at the port clearly shows the level of compliance by the importers with their agents who no longer wants their goods seized. The Customs Area Controller, who had repeatedly said that ‘’their best is yet to come’’ could beat his chest that ‘’the Command capacity to detect smuggling and make seizures has continued to be improved upon on a daily basis with the advance of technologies with little or no efforts Vintage Olomu.
