As CAC Declares 2024 Year of Stakeholders

Notwithstanding the economic downturn and uncertainties of 2023, the Tin Can Island Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has disclosed that it collected a total of N716.479b revenue for 2023 fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.

Addressing newsmen at the Command in Lagos, Customs Area Controller, CAC, of the Command, Comptroller Dera Nnadi, mni, told newsmen that the management of the service has given the Command a revenue target of N1.130trillion for the 2024 fiscal year.

While admitting that the N1.3trillion revenue target is not an easy one, he allayed fears of his officers and men by saying that it is achievable.

According to the CAC, the N716.479billion revenue collection for  2023., which represents 89.3per cent of the 2023 target to the various reforms introduced by the management of the Command under his supervision, such as automation of the bond seat, improved quality service delivery, which reduced waiting time of cargo, thus curbing payment of demurrage and the introduction of 24-hour port operations whereby officers and men of the service are made to work Sunday-Monday to forestall delays and cargo build ups.

He however noted that apart from the efforts and diligence on the part of the officers and men of the Command, the stakeholders, especially the importers and their freight forwarders would take the credit for the outstanding revenue performance of the command in the outgone 2023 despite economic challenges, saying that the compliance levels of some of the importers and agent are rising, which partly led to the huge revenue collection.

Speaking on developments at his Command and what to expect, the CAC said “To reciprocate the support and cooperation we received from our trading stakeholders, especially the importers and their clearing agents, which led to our superlative revenue performance for the outgone 2023 fiscal year, the Tin Can Island Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has declared 2024 as Year of the Stakeholders”.

“The direct implication of this is that in 2024, we will devote more of our time, resources, and human capital to serve these stakeholders more, especially in terms of delivering quality service to them. I’ll tell you something, the importers and their freight agents are now realising that it pays them more to make honest declarations and take delivery of their consignments in record time than allow such consignments to spend several weeks, incurring huge demurrage and rent charges”.

“For such stakeholders, we have resolved and we pledge to deliver exceptional quality service to them much more than we did in 2024. We will up our game in quality service delivery, that is why we are automating most of our processes, utilising our weekends for port operation and we have the backing of the management of the service towards achieving this because the Comptroller General of the Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR has assured of his support and the provision of more scanners before the end of the year. But we will deal decisively with those traders who are not compliant and are not willing to turn a new leaf”.

“So going forward, in 2024, we have introduced a reward system for the stakeholder, which include expedited cargo clearance for compliant traders, among others. We will further strengthen and sustain our weekend operations and ensure that the port operates seven days of the week. Additionally, we have stopped blaming only traders for any infraction on cleared cargo. We have introduced a mechanism whereby officers are made accountable for the consignments they inspect and release. What this means is that an officer would be made to answer for a consignment he or she released from the command and it is intercepted on the road by other units of the service for any infraction”, the CAC reiterated.

On the 2024 revenue target, Comptroller Nnadi said: “The implication of our 2024 revenue projection is that we are expected to collect N94.23b on a monthly basis, N21.7billion weekly and N4.32billion daily. Like I told you earlier, this is no mean task, but it is surmountable.

“The beautiful thing is that officers and men of the Command are turbo charged for the year, you all know that the reward for a good job is more job. The management of the service has   provided us with the wherewithal in terms of incentives and the necessary tools to do the work and so we have no reason not to deliver on this revenue projection.”

Controller Nnadi  thanked the CGC for his support to the command.  He assured that the Command would leave no stone unturned to  deliver on its statutory responsibilities in revenue generation, suppression of smuggling and trade  facilitation.