Customs generates N156.9bn in Tin Can, January to August

• 6% less than that of same period of 2015

Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at Tin Can Command generated a sum of N156.9 billion from between January and August, 2016, 3.6% less than what it made in the same period of 2015.

However, the revenue recorded was lower than what was generated in the same period in 2015 when it collected N162.9 billion, indicating a fall of 3.6 per cent compared to the figure for the first eight months of 2015.

A breakdown of the revenue revealed that the command  realised about N24.858 billion in January, N16.856 in February, N17.215 billion in March, N14.342 billion in April, N16.365 billion in May , N20.176 billion in June,  N20.947 billion in July and N26.2 billion in August, 2016.

Its  Public Relations Officer, Mr. Uche Ejesieme , the command , was able to collect the sum due to the measures the management  introduce to boost the its revenue collection.

It was learnt that  the decline in the level of importation was due to  the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) restriction to foreign exchange on the importation of 41 items, while the frequent depreciation in the exchange rate of the naira to the dollar has also contributed to the low revenue.

It would recall that August, 2016, NCS Spokesman in Abuja, Wale  Adeniyi said that there had been increase in the spate of smuggling to the country,

He explained that the service seized goods valued at  N4.975billion in six months. The total number of seizure made from January to June this year was 3,066 as against 5,485 in same period in 2015.

The spokesman noted: “Customs has renewed commitment to fiscal policy implementation. Rice seizures account for over 70 percent of our seizures as we still have intelligence about thousands of metric tons landed in Benin Republic. We are raising the stakes to create huge disincentives to smuggling of rice and other prohibited products.”