NCS Reports ₦1.9trn Revenue Growth, Pursues Exchange Rate Stability with CBN

 

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced a staggering ₦1.9 trillion increase in revenue over the past year, marking a substantial rise from its previous financial performance.

 

The Comptroller-General (C-G) of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this achievement during a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, highlighting the Service’s efforts and successes under his leadership.

 

Adeniyi underscored the NCS’s impressive 74% growth in revenue collection, reaching a total of ₦4.49 trillion between June 2023 and May 2024, compared to ₦2.58 trillion in the corresponding period of the previous year.

 

He attributed this remarkable performance to a consistent 70.13% increase in average monthly revenue collection, amounting to ₦343 billion per month, up from ₦202 billion previously. Notably, the first quarter of 2024 alone saw a notable 122.35% surge in revenue collection compared to the same period in the previous year.

 

The C-G highlighted several factors contributing to this success, including the recovery of ₦15 billion through the Revenue Review Performance Recovery exercise, ₦2.79 billion from the regularization of uncustomed vehicles’ documentation within a 90-day window, and ₦1.5 billion from the decongestion of 1,705 overtime containers and 981 vehicles at ports.

 

In a bid to stabilize exchange rates for imports, Adeniyi confirmed that the NCS has commenced collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He expressed concern over the disruptive impact of fluctuating exchange rates on business planning, underscoring the necessity of achieving stability in this regard.

 

The C-G also highlighted the NCS’s remarkable improvement in governance performance rankings, noting a significant leap from a lower position to achieving a perfect score of 100%, tying with other top-performing agencies.

 

This transformation, he emphasized, resulted from effective trade facilitation measures implemented over the past year.

 

Adeniyi further detailed operational enhancements, such as the designation of a dedicated export terminal at Lilypond Command, which significantly boosted processing efficiency. Initially managing 317 Single Goods Declarations (SGDs), the terminal now handles 7,464 SGDs, representing 19.49% of the total 38,294 export transactions recorded in 2023.

 

By the first quarter of 2024, this figure had increased to 10,786 transactions, with 29.32% processed through the dedicated export terminal.

 

Regarding anti-smuggling efforts, the C-G reported substantial interceptions, high-value seizures, and numerous arrests, including the confiscation of 63 shipments related to animal and wildlife products valued at ₦566 million.

 

Adeniyi concluded by reaffirming the NCS’s commitment to sustaining these achievements through continued innovation, collaboration, and stringent enforcement measures, ensuring robust revenue generation and trade facilitation across Nigeria’s borders.