The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says its revenue grew by ₦1.9trn in the past year, and that it has started working with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to achieve a stable exchange rate for imports.
A breakdown of its revenue in the period under review showed that it generated ₦4.49 trillion in revenue in the last year, from the ₦2.58trn recorded two years ago. This shows revenue growth of N1.9trn in the previous year.
The Comptroller-General (C-G) of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday to mark his one year in office.
He spoke against the backdrop of huge distortions in business planning caused by frequent changes in exchange rates over the past few months.
He stated: “The NCS reported a remarkable 74% growth in revenue collection over the past year, recording a total revenue collection of ₦4.49 trillion between June 2023 and May 2024, compared to the ₦2.58 trillion collected during the corresponding period of the previous year.
“This achievement was underpinned by a sustained increase of 70.13% in average monthly revenue collection compared to the previous year. NCS recorded an average monthly revenue collection of ₦343 billion, compared to the ₦202 billion monthly average.
“Notably, there was a substantial 122.35% rise in revenue collection during the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in the previous year”.
The gains, Adeniyi said, were attributable to the ₦15 billion recovery by the Revenue Review Performance Recovery exercise; ₦2.79 billion recovered from the 90-day window for the regularisation of the documents of uncustomed vehicles; ₦1.5 billion recovered from the decongestion of 1,705 overtime containers and 981 vehicles from the port.
He added, “It is also worthy to note that on June 13, 2024, NCS recorded a daily All-Time-High of ₦58.5 billion in revenue collection.”
The deployment of officers to sensitive posts based on merit and capacity, the CG also said, was key to the performance recorded within the period under review.
On the trade facilitation mandate of the NCS, Adeniyi said that the decongestion of ports and the re-opening of previously inaccessible access roads have played key roles.
