Customs rakes in N826bn

The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) now under intense pressure to expand collections and rev up government revenues severely bashed by low oil prices, says it generated about N826 billion between January and November this year.

The service, which recently went through sweeping reforms led by Ahmed Ali, its new Comptroller-General, is upbeat about meeting the N944 billion 2015 target, barely two weeks to the end of the year- but analysts fear that delivery is still largely threatened by declining imports and unabating smuggling.

Figures seen by BusinessDay indicate that the Customs raked in N73.2 billion (January); N69.5billion (February); N78.9billion (March); N71.4billion (April); N68.4billion in May; and N76.4billion in June.

Also N77.6billion was collected in July; N78.2billion in August; N74.7billion in September; N78.4 in October; and N78.4 billion in November.

BusinessDay analysis shows that for the Customs to meet the 2015 target, it would require an additional collection of about N118 billion (in December) –which is considerably higher than the monthly collections so far in the year.

Although the N309.7 billion so far generated under Ali’s watch and his decision to lift restriction on rice importation at the country’s land boarders suggest that the service could meet its projections, there are also fears around the possibility of the service matching the N977.09 billion it generated in 2014.

A further breakdown of the figures shows that total revenue collected from import duty –January till November- was N427.36bn (cash) while the Negotiable Duty Credit Certificate (NDCC) which is a non-cash receipt was put at N5.6bn. Excise duty accounted for N36.2bn, while the service put its fees in the months under review as N2.3bn.

N85.2bn was generated as Federal Account levies, while N114.7bn was accrued by the service as Non-Federation Account (Levies).

The total collections by NCS as Value Added Tax (VAT) in those eleven months was put at N154.7bn, to bring the total revenue generated by the service in eleven months at N825.8bn.

Ali, the Comptroller-General of Customs, had expressed determination to fully execute the brief handed him by President Buhari, which includes “Restructure, Reform and Revenue” along the lines of increasing revenue profile, tackling smuggling and  tax / duties evasion, ridding the service of bad eggs, and also re-orientation of the mindset of Customs officers as well as enhanced welfare.

But dropping import volumes and continuous increase in smuggling activities at the country’s porous borders are still widely the major reasons for the continuous drop of revenues accruing from the NCS, experts in the industry point out.

Reports also indicate that Nigeria could be losing about $3 billion annually to smugglers.

Meanwhile, the value of Nigeria’s imports, continue to stumble, not necessarily due to increased local production, analysts say, but largely on account of currency controls which have tightened foreign exchange supply as demand skyrockets.

The National Bureau of Statistics indicates in its merchandise trade report that the country’s volume of imports in the first quarter of 2015 slumped to 1.6453 trillion, from 2.031 trillion recorded in the last quarter of 2014.

Though it went up to 1.7057 trillion in the second quarter, it further slid to 1.6882 trillion in the third quarter, according to the latest figures released yesterday by the NBS.

In an interview with BusinessDay, Joseph Attah, Deputy Public Relations Officer, expressed optimism that with the renewed efforts of the service under Ali’s leadership, no efforts would be spared to contain the illegal activities of smugglers through the country’s borders.

Attah added that the NCS, in a bid to fortify the borders against smugglers, had in 2011 recruited more personnel and trained the old ones, a development, he claims assisted the service in curbing the menace of smuggling at the nation’s borders.

He also said the introduction of Pre-Arrival Assessment Report was another innovation that has continued to enhance the NCS revenue profile and improve Nigeria’s ease of doing business.

ONYINYE NWACHUKWU &  KEHINDE ABDULSALAM