MMA CUSTOMS ROLLS OUT PROGRESSIVE SCORECARDS IN 2023

MMA CUSTOMS ROLLS OUT
PROGRESSIVE SCORECARDS IN 2023

…Records a 29.61% increase

By Ossy Onyenwezi

The Murtala Muhammed Airport Command of the Nigeria Customs Service entered a 29.61 per cent increase in revenue generated last year 2023 when compared to the 2022 collection.
The command brought in
Ninety billion, four hundred and twenty-six million, one hundred and eighty five thousand, and four hundred and forty-seven naira (90, 426,185,447. 01) on customs duty and other charges in 2023 as against the 2022 collection, which stood at Sixty nine billion, seven hundred and sixty eight million, five hundred and ninety seven thousand and seventy nine naira. (69, 768,509,597.79).

The command also recorded the feat of intercepting contraband goods with a whopping value of Forty Seven Billion, Two Hundred and Seven Million, Four Hundred And Twenty Four Thousand, Three Hundred And Eighty Nine Naira and Eighty Four Kobo Only (47,207,424,389.84).

Highlighting the scorecard of the annual activities of the command for year 2023 on Wednesday, the Area Controller, Comptroller MS Yusuf noted that the over N90 billion collected in 2023 clearly shows a progressive difference of Twenty million, Six hundred “and ‘fifty seven million, “six hundred seventy five thousand and eight ‘hundred and forty nine naira ‘only (39820,657,675,849.22) depicting: (29.61%) increase of collection.

According to the controller, the difference recorded was made possible as a result of resilience of officers in ensuring that agents were made to do proper declarafions, and made to adhere strictly to import/export guidelines in tandem with extant laws.

On anti smuggling, Comptroller Yusuf maintained that the officers and men of the command were not resting on their oars in enforcing government fiscal policies and other trade guidelines.

He stated that this resulted in the command recording a total of ten seizures in 2023.
Yusuf gave the seized items to include ‘Tramadol, Military camouflage jackets, Military hard wares, counterfeit, medicaments, Dried shark fins and Dried donkey genitals with the cumulative Duty Paid Value (DPV) of Forty Seven Billion, Two Hundred and Seven Million, Four Hundred And Twenty Four Thousand, Three Hundred And Eighty Nine Naira and Eighty Four Kobo Only (47,207,424,389.84).

He explained that the items were seized mainly because of various forms of infractions which range from false declarations, non-compliance with the estimated threshold and failure to comply with other extant regulations as enshrined in the Nigeria Customs Service Act (NCS ACT).

“It will interest you to note that most of the relevant items have been handed over to concerned sister agencies in ‘the spirit of inter-agency collaboration,” he hinted.

In the area of stakeholders’ engagement, the controller stressed that the command has maintained its open-door policy and resolved a lot of issues of common interest with concerned stakeholders.
He appreciated the command’s critical stakeholders, sister agencies, and the media for their collaborative efforts and synergy while the command carries out its statutory mandate.