Customs revenue grows to over N4.3trn in nine months

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said it collected over N4.3 trillion in revenue within the first nine months of the year, January to September 2024.

Adewale Adeniyi, comptroller general of Customs, disclosed this in a keynote address titled, ‘The Strategic Importance of Digital Infrastructure in Import Duty Collection and Accountability,’ during the Finance and Business Online Publishers Workshop in Lagos at the weekend.

The annual revenue target for the Service this year was about N5.3 trillion out of which the Service has collected N4.289 trillion with three months left for the year to end.

Represented by Dera Nnadi, Customs Area Controller of the Tin-Can Island Port Command, Adeniyi said the Service collected a total sum of N3.21 trillion in 2023.

“We have already surpassed our 2023 collection by over N1 trillion even though the year has not ended. This will enable you to understand the enormity of the progress made leveraging technology,” he said.

“The Service collected N2.6 trillion in 2022, which shows that we are making steady progress, and this is possible because we are digitalising, ICT, and innovation in our process. This year-on-year improvement in import duty collection shows a marked improvement by measures put in place by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the commercial banks in the adoption of digital infrastructure for Customs processes.

Read also: Customs’ revenue surges to N4.3trn on e-payment

“It also shows the huge investment in human capacity and infrastructure by the Nigeria Customs Service management. I give kudos to the present Comptroller General of Customs who in less than one year of coming into office has achieved this milestone,” he explained.

The e-Customs modernisation project, he said, is the integration of various stakeholders into one digital platform.
This, according to him, will promote transparency by ensuring that all parties from importers to port operators are involved, real time information sharing ensures that all parties are held accountable; reduce chances of fraud and discrepancies in duty collection.

He said President Bola Tinubu inaugurated a Single Window platform currently being championed by the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

It enhances efficiency and speed, improves transparency, increases revenue, and most importantly, integrates all the stakeholders.

“Systems like NICIS II streamline import/export documentation, ensuring that duties are assessed in real-time. The result is faster clearance process, free flow of goods through our ports, and efficiency,” he said.