Nigerian Customs Generated N8.48bn In 2013 At Seme border

NAN

The Area Comptroller, Seme Border Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, Mr Willy Egbudin, on Wednesday said the command generated N8.48 billion between January and December, 2013.

Egbudin told a news conference at the Seme border town, near Badagry, that the figure was, however, N4.5billion less than the N13 billion target set for 2013.

“The total revenue collected in 2013 was N8,482,231,289.81 billion, which represents about 65 per cent of the annual target.

“We will definitely improve on our revenue target this year because we have been brainstorming to identify and block all perceived sources of revenue leakage.

“We are also discussing with our Beninoise counterparts to address the problem of appropriate transit of imported vehicles from Republic of Benin to Nigeria,” he said.

He said that the command made 1,102 seizures with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N548.3m during the period, adding that the figure was an improvement on the seizures made in 2012.

“In 2012, 480 seizures were made with a Duty Paid Value of N227,035,726.00. This figure shows that there is a significant improvement and we shall do more this year, “he said.

The Comptroller said that 29 suspects arrested within the period were at various stages of investigation and prosecution.

He said that goods seized included vehicles, textiles, rice, vegetable oil, second hand clothes, shoes, bags and artefacts.

Egbudin also said that the Federal Government lost N1.9billion to the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS).

“During the period under review, ETLS complaint goods with a CIF value of N6.821,862,901 were cleared through the command”, he said.

Egbudin revealed that the export section generated N10.8billion during the year under review, adding that the total Nigeria Export Supervision Scheme collection stood at N53.8m.

He decried the incidence of multiple checkpoints on the Seme/Badagry expressway by various security agencies, and noted that the command was collaborating with other agencies to address the situation.

“Also, the marshy and swampy nature of vast land area of the command tends to retard the movement of our patrol vehicles in the hinterland.

“Ignorance by some members of the public about government fiscal policies and the unwillingness by some members of the public to embrace change is not helping matters,” he said.