The Customs Area Controller(CAC) of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMA, Command, Comptroller Mohammed Yusuf, has said that the decision to sanitize operations and other activities in the Command was what led to increased revenue generation.
Yusuf who was moved from the defunct headquarters of Strike Force Team A, Lagos, to the Command late last year said on assuming office he had to adopt strategies to address issues of cargo pilfering, smuggling and recycling of airway bills.
The Controller disclosed that the strategies have all manifested in the Command now recording more than double of what it used to collect as at last year.
For instance, he said that whereas the target for last year was about N200m daily, the revenue target of the Command now has since been jacked up to N400million daily.
Yusuf said that the good news is that the Command has continued to meet its current daily revenue target of N400million.
He added that while the total collection of the Command was N68billion for last year, the Command had as at September this year recorded a revenue generation of N67bn into the year.
The Controller who noted that the volume of imports has remained low as against expectations even at this period of the year, apparently because of the economic situation, however expressed optimism that his Command will continue to do well in revenue generation.
He said that he had to block all areas of revenue leakages in the cargo sheds, stating that with this, the Command has continued to record improved revenue.
The MMA has Sky Way Handling Company Limited, SAHCOL and the Nigerian Aviation Cargo Handling Company, NAHCO, PLC, sheds where goods are kept for clearing by the importers and their agents.
According to him, part of the strategy was on “proper supervision, checking officers” to ensure that values on goods are scrutinized.
Yusuf said he has continued to enjoy the cooperation of stakeholders on the area of compliance to avoid revenue leakages.
He also told SHIPPING DAY that the support from the Comptroller General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi and others at the headquarters helped in improving the working conditions of the officers.
He equally added that apart from provision of working tools and renovation of offices for better working conditions, the management has introduced all forms of human capacity development, including promotion of officers for optimal performance.
“You can see renovation of offices going on, this will give us the right working environment. Nobody will now say he does not have a good place to work. With the comfort you get, it is enough for you to do your best”, he said.
It would be recalled that the Command had few months ago announced the seizure of dried donkey genitals worth N1.01bn.
The Command also said other items seized were 6 packages of suspected dried shark fins with FOB Value of N221m.
The dried donkey genitals were in 25 packages.
The Command had put the total worth of the seizures at N1.2bn, adding that the items were intended for export.
The Command told newsmen that “these items were seized mainly because of various forms of infractions on Export guidelines and failure to comply with CITES Law on endangered species as enshrined in the Nigeria
