By Stephen Ubanna
In spite of the fact that Comptroller Ben Nkem Oramalugo, PH.D, is just barely two months in office as the Area Controller of Seme Command, described in world Customs circles as the busiest Land Border Station in the African Continent, he appears to have had at his fingertips the challenges which have been facing the Area over the years that requires the support of the National Assembly to solve once and for all.
The Customs Comptroller, may have taken advantage of Hon. Leke Abejide, Chairman, House Committee on Customs and members visit as part of the National Assembly’s statutory responsibilities as enshrined in sections 88 and 89 of the 199 Constitution as amended to carry out their oversight function to speak out when confronted with barrage of questions that was said to have bordered on the various challenges faced by the Command in the discharge of the service responsibilities of trade facilitation, revenue generations and anti-smuggling operations.
The seme Area Controller may have painted a sympathetic image of the situation in the Interventionist Command ranging from poor infrastructure, shortage of personnel and equipment, lack of power supply for over seven years in the entire Seme axis forcing the Command to rely on neighbouring Republic of Benin for its electricity needs to ocean encroachment on its land.
Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, the Customs Comptroller General over the last one year was said to have done everything within his powers to provide some of the necessary working tools like operational vehicles and other equipment like AK47 to the Command to enable the Patrol Team officers do their job of confronting the smugglers squarely and ensuring that the Command collects the much-expected revenue from imports and exports passing through the Joint Border Post, JBP.
Perhaps, to ensure that the Command improve on its revenue collection and anti-smuggling drive may have informed why the Seme Command Area Controller who could not hide his feelings had called for urgent Federal Government intervention in technology deployment, environmental protection, and enforcement of contractual obligations on stalled projects in the Command.
There is no gain saying the fact that there are so many uncompleted housing projects going on in the Command over the years which may have been abandoned by the Contractor due to unpaid debt. Some of the Housing Projects have been roofed while others have reached the roofing stage . Informed souses told The Value News on line that Weed have gradually taken over some of the buildings while some others which had already been roofed would gulp much money to repair and bring it to the level where it had taken to by the contractor before it was abandoned.
In spite of the challenges that was said to have been faced by the Command over the years, past and present Area Controllers of the Command may have allowed it to discourage them from doing their job. At the Nov.29, 2024, Comptroller General of Customs Awards Night at Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, the Command had been ranked as the country’s Best Land Border in Trade Facilitation beating Sokoto/Zamfara, Kano/Jigawa and Oyo Commands to it.
Comptroller, Oramalugo, who is determined to sustain the records that had had been kept by the Command over the years was said to have told the Lawmakers on oversight functions to the Command that trade activities in the Command have continued to be boosted under his Leadership within the last two months the Command has focused on its core mandates of trade facilitation, revenue generation , anti-smuggling operations and implementing of the vision of the Customs Comptroller General which has to do with inter-agency collaboration leading to verifiable achievable results.
He had alluded to the fact that along the Abidjan-Lagos corridor which currently serves as a vital hub for trade in the West African subregion, the Command’s dedication to embracing BBP initiative, which fosters cooperation, promotes intelligence sharing, and improves Customs clearance of cargoes through the one-stop post model have simplified their job.
The Seme Command Customs boss may have won the heart of the House Committee members on Customs when he disclosed that over 96,000 metric tons, mt, of goods, with a Free On Board, FOB, value of N20,454,888,432.37 was facilitated through the JBP, between January 1st,] to March 31, covering the first quarter of the year, 2025 despite the Command teething problems.
Given the Comptroller General of Customs matching order to the Command Area Controllers to take revenue generation drive serious may have informed why Compt. Oramalugo had gone the extra-mile to maximize the Command monthly revenue collection.
Besides blocking the areas of revenue at the JBP, he may have taken a cue from the Apapa Command Area Controller, Compt. Bbatunde Olomu, by ensuring that the importers with their agents make correct declarations without cutting corners o shortchange the government.
This may have reflected in the Command’s revenue generation in the first quarter of 2025. According to the Customs Comptroller, the Command had collected the sum of N1,986,395,565.86 in the first quarter of the 2025 fiscal year, which he was said to have further attributed to improved compliance, risk management and enforcement of the Customs Management Act, signed into Law by former President Muhammadu Buhari in April, 2023.
Notwithstanding the impressive performance of Compt. Oramalugo, and his team in the areas of trade facilitation and revenue collection inn the last three months, the Customs Area Controller appears to have replicate what he did at Kebbi state , which was a hub of drug barons which he had used the Customs Command in the Area to turn it a hub of revenue generation, and what he did at Saki and other flashpoint smuggler rotes in Oyo state , that had made him join the class of anti-smuggling Czars like of ACG. Kehinde Hussain Ejibunu, overseeing financial matters at the Customs Headquarters and who incidentally is the Coordinator of Operation Whirlwind , described as a tactical team with a mandate aimed at combating the smuggling of petroleum products to neighboring West African countries of Benin, Niger, and Tchad and the Central frican country of Cameroun and Bello Ahmadou Shuaibu, of the Federal Operations Unit, Zone B, Kaduna , who was said to have effectively covered the flashpoints north central states of Kwara, Niger and the north central states of Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi Katsina, despite the activities of the activities of the Bandits and Lakurawa Group , particular, in the north western geopolitical region.
He noted that between January and March, 2025, the Command , which had not given the smugglers a breather in Land , sea, Creeks and watersides within the Seme jurisdictions and Badagry axis had made several Contraband seizures ranging from Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, popular, petrol, narcotics, Asian countries of Thailand par boil and Indian Agricultural par boil rice, with a Duty Paid Value of N855,700, 524.00, described as encouraging by the Lawmakers.
In apparent response to the Seme Command Area Controller’s remarks, Hon. Abejide, may have used the opportunity provided by the visit to Customs Interventionist Unit, to declare of the Committee’s resolve ‘’to critically assess the operations, revenue performance and Capital projects executions in line with the 2023 and 2024 budgetary approvals.
The House Committee on Customs Chairman, may have the Seme Command Area Controller, when he revealed that they were in the Command ‘’to check their books, operations and ongoing projects to ensure alignment with appropriated funds and to determine areas for retention or removal in the 2025 budget’’.
The House Committee Chairman who was said to have emphasized the need for the Seme Command ‘’to provide data on revenue performance in relation to targets, impact of E-Customs and digital platforms and efforts made in suppressing and promoting Nigeria’s trade Competitiveness with trading partners in the West and Central African subregions.
Isah Suleiman, a Chief Superintendent of Customs and the Command spokesperson, had said that the Hose Committee members had concluded the visit to Command with ‘’mutual assurances of continued collaboration in strengthening the service as a key driver of economic development, regional integration, and national security’’.
