The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has declared that N2.74 trillion revenue was realised from all commands between January and June 2024, exceeding the target for the year 8 percent.
Aside from that, the revenue recorded by the law enforcement agency surpassed previous year revenue by 127 percentage in the country.
The Service in its mid year report signed by its National Public Relations Officer and Chief Superintendent of Customs, Abdulahi Maiwada, and made available to Journalists in Abuja on Monday, said the Service achieved this in line with its revenue target of N2.54 trillion which was handed to them in the 2024 budget.
According to the statement, N1.395 trillion was collected for the second quarter, exceeding the quarterly target by 10 percent and representing a 131% increase over Q2 2023 adding that, Key initiatives contributing to this success include the e-auction platform, which generated over N1.34 billion, and the 90-day duty payment window for uncustomed vehicles.
It added that these measures have significantly enhanced transparency, compliance, and efficiency in customs processes, underscoring the NCS’s commitment to excellence.
The statement revealed that the Service intensified its anti-smuggling operations in the first half of 2024, resulting in notable achievements.
From January to June 2024, the NCS made 2,442 seizures with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of NGN 25,520,652,942.87, which is 203% higher than the DPV of seizures in the first half of 2023. In the second quarter of 2024, the NCS made 1,334 seizures with a DPV of NGN 17,564,384,378, representing a 121% increase over the first quarter of 2024.
It revealed that top items seized include wildlife items, vehicles, arms and ammunition, foreign rice, pharmaceuticals, and narcotics, with 32 suspects in custody.
According to the statement, despite the achievements, the NCS faced several challenges in the first half of 2024, including significant fluctuations in the exchange rate, a lower volume of transactions, low compliance levels among importers and exporters, and periodic downtime.
These challenges, it was indicated, impacted the consistency of revenue collection and overall operational efficiency.
To address these challenges and enhance revenue collection, the NCS implemented several strategies, including real-time system auditing, post-clearance audits, verification of documents for the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR), ensuring compliance with import guidelines, and the implementation of a pilot test for the Authorized Economic Operators (AEO) scheme.
