The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is currently basking in the euphoria of having generated a mammoth N95.7 billion in the month of August 2016.
According to the Customs spokesman, Mr. Wale Adeniyi, the figure was the highest recorded in a single month for over a decade and he attributed this achievement to the efficacy of the Comptroller-General’s policy thrust and his three point presidential mandate which are reform, restructure and increase revenue.
The Customs spokesman admitted the Service collected the fee in spite of the current foreign exchange challenges and low imports. However, MMS Plus Investigation reveals that the Customs may not deserve the kudos and accolades that they have been showered recently.
Isn’t it baffling that the Nigerian Customs Service is not crying and lamenting that the harsh economic times which has reduced the volume of imports has dwindled its revenue? There are about 41 items that have been restricted access to foreign exchange and the persistent fall in the value of naira has also made the access to forex very difficult and expensive. The Customs should also recall that it has also systematically hiked its import duty exchange rate from N197- $1 to N282-$1 and presently N313 to $1.
What are the modalities that necessitated this N95.7billion collected in August? Didn’t the Customs do most of its ‘August’ business with the new exchange rate of N313-$1? Was the Customs expecting to get the ‘usual’ return after it successfully increased its exchange rate by N114 (36%) ignoring the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) directive to revert to the preceding rate?
While the Customs Public Relations Officer, Wale noted that the N95.7billion was the highest collected in the last decade, the P.R.O may also have to recall that the exchange rate in 2006 was N128 to $1 and the true value of N95.7billion is less than half when compared to 2006. Going two months backwards, when the Customs duty was calculated at N197 and that the N95.7billion would have been about N62billion (36% lower).
There is also a dichotomy between trade facilitation and revenue generation when ideal functions of the Customs are brought to the front burner.
The problem is that the federal government seems to be content with assessing the Customs by the revenue generated while the Customs should equally be assessed by the duel time of cargo at its environment, cargo throughput and its generally contribution towards trade facilitation.
Speaking to MMS Plus, the former President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) Chief Eugene Nweke said, “revenue generation and trade facilitation work as enemies because most times the government only says generate revenue without making efforts to scrutinize how that revenue was generated”
The freight forwarding veteran stressed that it was high time the government asked itself if as a nation, it was appropriate to continue to generate revenue by increasing the cost of imports all the time.
For the very first time, we see more revenue been generated but the trading public is not happy about the way Customs are going about the revenue generation because they are being exploited.
“A freight forwarder cannot explain to the shipper why a Form M opened at a certain rate N282 and Customs increases it to N313 and demands that a business transaction which started at N282 must pay the new N313 exchange. The present Customs foreign exchange regime is a shame. The abandonment of the rate for which documentation was done for the current state when cargo arrives is highly unprofessional.
“If the government continues to utilize revenue as an assessment of customs performance, then trade facilitation would be injurious and unattainable. Revenue is more about scrutiny and rigidity while trade facilitation is all about ICT, transparency and credibility. I believe that if we facilitate trade, we would attract more cargo and more revenue will accrue to the Customs”, he said.
However, a senior Customs officer who pleaded anonymity denied that the Customs pegged the N313 exchange rate.
“Who is Customs? Isn’t it a government entity? How can we work outside the framework provided by the government? It was the federal government that changed the monetary policy and the Customs had to enforce it. Isn’t this better than the nation to go borrowing” he asked.
He agreed that the recent increase in the Customs revenue was as a result of the exchange rate but maintained that the Customs has not lost grip of its trade facilitation agendum.
“One of the Customs mandates is to facilitate trade but facilitating trade doesn’t mean flouting the revenue directives. The trade has not increased in 2016 but the exchange rate has enabled the Customs generate more” he said.
According to the senior Customs officer, several nations across the globe are going through a recession and the Customs Service and its Comptroller-General should be commended for striving to generate more despite the hard times.
However, a legal practitioner who is also a member of the National Association of Government Approved Freight forwarders (NAGAFF), Barr. Fred Akokhia asserted that the Customs generating more means that officers are being more diligent following the emergence of CG Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd).
Barr. Akokhia commended the ongoing reforms in the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) as he noted that Customs officers were doing their jobs more professionally than they did in the past.
He opined that the 41 items which are being restricted access to forex has enabled the nation focus on the import of more essential commodities.
“Don’t look at the quantity of imports, look at the quality. Most of those 41 items being deprived access to forex are not essential commodities and they do not attract much revenue via import duty.
“Some of those things were items like toothpick and other non-essential items. These were the things that people were wasting forex on, but today the situation is better because people are now concentrating on more essential things which brings more import duty” he added.
By Kenneth Jukpor
