Customs Service Nets N602bn In 10 Months

Comptroller-General of Nigerian Customs Services (NCS), Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko, has said that the establishment has generated N602 billion, thereby surpassing its 2011 revenue target by N6 billion.

Dikko announced this on Wednesday in Abuja at the Monthly Revenue Strategy meeting with the NCS management and Area Comptrollers.

A statement signed by NCS Public Relations Officer, Mr Wale Adeniyi, and made available to newsmen quoted Dikko as saying that the “revenue target was N596 billion”.

“As at the end of October 2011, the Service has generated a total of N602 billion.

“By the end of the year, we hope to have generated bonus revenue of over N100 billion into government coffers. ”

The Comptroller-General attributed the feat to the stringent measures put in place to closely monitor revenue performance and blocking of leakages.

These measures include the creation of a System-Audit Unit in the headquarters to monitor duty payment in all ports.

It also includes the automation of the entire Customs Clearance Procedure, which allowed faster and smoother clearance and the improved quality delivery by the NCS workforce.

The Comptroller-General also noted that the automation of excise payment procedures greatly helped to block leakages associated with the sector.

He said before 2011, the average monthly collection by the Service was N30 billion which had increased to a monthly average of N50 billion in the first quarter of 2011.

He added that towards the end of the second quarter, the Service recorded an increase of N61.5 billion in July 2011 and surpassed by the collection of N76.2 billion in August.