The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced a staggering revenue generation of 1.3 trillion naira in the first quarter of 2024.
During a press briefing on Wednesday, the Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that this figure represents a substantial increase of 122.35% compared to the same period last year.
Adeniyi noted the NCS’s exceptional performance, citing over 572 seizures with a duty-paid value of N10 billion.
He emphasised the significant milestone achieved by the NCS in exceeding its revenue collection targets, stating that the first quarter’s revenue surpassed the Federal government’s annual target of N5.07 trillion for the NCS in 2024.
“In the first quarter of 2024, the NCS demonstrated remarkable performance in revenue collection,” Adeniyi stated. “Total revenue collected during this period amounted to NGN 1,347,675,608,972.75.”
The Customs boss also revealed that a substantial portion of revenue, amounting to N1.6 billion, was generated through the electronic auction platform launched earlier in the year.
Despite these achievements, Adeniyi acknowledged the challenges posed by fluctuations in the exchange rate regime, which have disrupted the NCS’s activities.
“In the last quarter, a total of 28 rates were directed by the CBN,” Adeniyi explained. “These fluctuations resulted in an average applied exchange rate of NGN 1,314.03 per USD 1 in the clearance of Customs goods during the quarter.”
Adeniyi expressed concern about the impact of these fluctuations on stakeholders, noting that they have affected and disrupted activities.
However, he expressed optimism about the recent relative stability and announced that the NCS, in collaboration with the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, has initiated periodic consultations with the apex bank to mitigate the potential impact of exchange rate fluctuations on import activities.
