is unable to explain why revenue figures
for first quarter 2015 increased
significantly amidst fall in the country’s
foreign trade, which fell by N110.2 billion to
N4.87 trillion in the first quarter of the
year compared to N4.98 trillion during the
same period in 2014 according to the
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Meanwhile, the Apapa Area 1 Command
of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) the
highest revenue generator for the
Service, recorded revenue of N74.11
billion in the first quarter of 2015, up
from N55.36 billion generated in the
corresponding period of 2014. This was
despite a drop in the number of vessels
that called at the ports within the period.
While a total of 118 vessels called at the
port in the first quarter of 2015, 130
vessels called in the same period of 2014.
In addition, 48,487 containers were
discharged in the first quarter of 2015 in
contrast to 57,908 containers discharged
in the same period of 2014.
The second highest revenue generator for
the Service, Tin-Can Island Command
generated N61.6 billion revenue in the
first quarter of 2015. The amount was
higher compared to N59.8 billion
recorded in the corresponding period of
2014.
The Public Relations Officer of the
Command, Chris Osunkwo however
attributed the improvement to quality
leadership “Both in the command and at
the Headquarters levels. Because when
you provide the right leadership every
other thing falls in line.”
In a Foreign Trade Statistics released
recently, the NBS said that a decline of
N385.8 billion in the value of imports
resulted in an overall decline in the
value of merchandise trade.
The rise in exports and decline in
imports however, improved the
country’s trade balance, which increased
by 71.6 percent from the preceding
quarter to N1.5 trillion, according to the
research report.
The report added that compared with the
corresponding quarter of 2014, the value
of total merchandise trade went down by
639.5billion , while the trade balance
decreased by N839.1 billion or 34.6 per
cent.
The value of imports stood at N1.64
trillion Q1 2015, representing a decrease
of N385.8billion or 19 per cent from
N2.03 trillion recorded in the preceding
quarter.
The puzzling revenue improvement
amidst low imports continue to raise
concerns that the Service is in a
desperate move to impress President
Muhammadu Buhari, whose
administration is expected to carry out a
sweeping purge in Ministries,
Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as
well as in the Military and Paramilitary
Services.
The Comptroller General of the Nigeria
Customs Service Dikko Inde Abdullahi
recently, when he visited Lagos to
inspect the two newly-acquired patrol
boats by the customs namely; Group of
Nine, and Customs Pride; charged
officers and men of the service at the
various commands to ensure that they
generate enough revenue into
government coffers so as to impress the
government and ensure “smooth
running of the administration of the
President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari.”
It could be recalled that the recent visit
of the Comptroller General of the Nigeria
Customs Service Dikko Inde Abdullahi to
Lagos to inspect the two newly-acquired
patrol boats by the customs namely
Group of Nine, and Customs Pride is not
far from the ‘revenue mission’ drive as
he charged officers and men of the
service at the various commands to
ensure that they generate enough
revenue into government coffers so as to
impress the government and ensure
“smooth running of the administration
of the President-elect, Muhammadu
Buhari.”
But he acknowledged that the 2015
general elections significantly affected
the revenue collection of the Customs
Service. Even though he did not give
actual figures, he urged the officers to
ensure that they tighten the noose and
make sure they meet the 2015 target.
He said that the service had at the
beginning envisaged a drop in its
revenue due to the elections and that it
had started blocking the revenue
leakages so that it could meet the figures
for the year.
“So, as you can see me, apart from
coming to commission these vessels, I
have gone through my commands and
informed them that we have to make up
for the six weeks we had the shortfall,
we have to gear up and make sure that
we meet the expectation of our target,
and I am sure there is no shaking” he
said.
The revenues generated by the Customs
in the first quarter were from Import
Duty, Excise Duty, Fees, Common
External Tariffs (CET), five per cent
Value Added Tax (VAT), seven per cent
Levy and National Automotive Council
(NAC).
No comments:
Post a Comment