Business
NAFDAC, Customs Agents Differ On Destination Inspection Of Goods
The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANCLA), Seme Border has said that destination examination of goods after customs’ clearance is unnecessary.
ANCLA Spokesman, Chief Mike Onwesu, said at a forum organised by the Nigeria Customs, Seme Border Command that destination examination delays the clearance of goods at the border.
The stakeholders’ forum was organised at the instance of Time Release Group, which visited the command to help in the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Service (ETLS) reform.
According to Onwesu, destination examination by NAFDAC and Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) was uncalled for.
“Apart from the delay ANCLA members and forwarders experience during Duty Tariff Inspection (DTI) and Global Scan, inspection by NAFDAC and SON after Customs inspection should be scrapped.
“These two outfits should be removed from the border post and send to foreign land to do pre-destination examination,” he said.
But Mr Stanley Atabor, NAFDAC’s Area Coordinator, Seme Border Post said that he was surprised that ANCLA was getting the mission of NAFDAC and other agencies wrong.
“NAFDAC is a government security agency which has the mandate to protect Nigerians against fake and substandard goods,” he said.
“NAFDAC is the National Health Police because it regulates goods coming into the country and ensures it does not have debilitating effects on the populace,” Atabor said.
According to him, the agents are only victims of their own antics because most times they are guilty of concealment of goods.
“Payment of tuition fees for undergraduate/postgraduate studies shall be subject to a maximum limit of $25,000.00 per semester,” the Manual states.
The expansion of international card limits also reflects growing confidence among lenders that foreign exchange liquidity has improved enough to support retail dollar transactions.
Speaking recently at the BusinessDay 14th Annual CEO Forum in Lagos, CBN Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the CBN said buying and selling activities now increasingly determine outcomes in the foreign exchange market, unlike in the past when market participants relied heavily on routine Central Bank interventions.
According to Cardoso, Nigeria’s net foreign exchange reserves have risen from just over $3 billion at the start of the reform programme to more than $40 billion, while gross reserves have climbed to about $52 billion, providing stronger confidence for investors and enabling the Central Bank to reserve interventions for periods of market stress rather than day-to-day liquidity management.
The restoration and expansion of international naira card spending limits are increasingly being seen as one of the clearest signs that the benefits of the CBN’s foreign exchange reforms are beginning to reach households, students and businesses making legitimate cross-border payments.
The Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer, WEC, Dr Angela Wilkinson, disclosed this in a statement, last Thursday.
“Nigeria’s participation comes at a pivotal time as the country seeks to expand energy access, strengthen energy security, accelerate gas development and mobilise the capital required for industrialisation and sustainable economic growth.
“WEC Nigeria will convene leaders from across the energy ecosystem, apply the WEC’s globally recognised Energy Trilemma framework to Nigeria’s unique context, and promote evidence-based dialogue, practical collaboration and informed policymaking.
“It will also ensure that Nigerian and broader African perspectives contribute meaningfully to global energy conversations,” she said.
Wilkinson expressed confidence that Nigeria would play a significant leadership role at the World Energy Congress scheduled for Riyadh in April 2027 and beyond.
The statement also quoted the Chairman of WEC Nigeria, Isa, as describing the country’s participation as an opportunity to deepen national and African leadership within the global energy community through practical solutions tailored to regional development priorities.
He said the platform would promote collaboration across sectors and attract sustainable investments into Nigeria’s energy sector.
The Chief Executive Officer of WEC Nigeria, Wunti, was quoted in the statement as saying that the council would connect leadership, evidence and investment to build a secure, affordable and sustainable energy system.
“This system will be capable of driving economic growth and shared prosperity.”
According to him, the platform will also connect Nigerian institutions and businesses with international knowledge, technology, partnerships and investment opportunities through the World Energy Council’s global network.
Recall that WEC, founded in 1923, is the world’s oldest independent and impartial community of energy leaders and practitioners, advancing informed, collaborative and practical action across the global energy system.