MMA Command Area Controller, Comptroller Muhammed Yusuf made the disclosure on Wednesday during a press briefing in Lagos state, southwest Nigeria.
Comptroller Yusuf while reviewing the Command’s activities for last year 2023, stated that between January and December last year, the command collected revenue to the tune of Ninety billion, four hundred and twenty six million one hundred and eighty five thousand, four hundred and forty seven naira only (N90,426,185,447.01).
He said that the generated revenue was in comparison with the revenue collected same period in 2022 which stood at Sixty nine billion, seven hundred and sixty eight million,five hundred and ninety seven thousand and seventy five thousand and seventy nine naira (N69,768,509,597.79).
This shows a progressive difference of Twenty billion, six hundred and fifty seven million, six hundred and seventy five thousand and eight hundred and forty nine naira (N20,657,849.22,) depicting a 29.61 percent increase in collection.
Yusuf explained that the difference recorded was made possible as a result of the resilience of officers in ensuring that agents were made to do proper declarations and made to adhere strictly to import/export guidelines in tandem with extant laws.
In the area of anti smuggling, the command controller stated that officers and men of the command are not resting on their oars in enforcing government fiscal policies and other trade guidelines.
Seizures
He maintained that the command made a total of 10 seizures last year with items which include tramadol , military camouflage jackets, military hardwares, counterfeit medicaments, dried shark fins and dried donkey genitals with the cumulative duty paid value of Forty seven billion, two hundred and seven million,Four hundred and twenty four thousand, three hundred and eighty nine naira and eighty four kobo (N47,207,424,389.84.)
According to him, the items were seized mainly because of various infractions which range from false declarations, non compliance with the estimated threshold and failure to comply with other extant regulations as enshrined in the Nigeria Customs Service Act.
“It will interest you to note that most of the relevant items have been handed over to concerned sister agencies in the spirit of inter agency collaboration,” he stressed.
In the area of stakeholders’ engagement, the command, he added, has maintained it’s open door policy and resolved a lot of common interest with concerned stakeholders.
“Let me also at this juncture thank our critical stakeholders, sister agencies and the media for their collaborative efforts and synergy while carrying out our statutory mandate in the state.”
He noted that in order to be able to generate the said target for this year, the workforce would restrategise, blocking all loopholes and leakages.
Yusuf extended appreciation to the Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi and his management team for giving them the opportunity to perform in their capacity while urging the officers and men of the command remain focused and steadfast in discharging their assigned responsibilities.
Hauwa Abu
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