Customs May Mis N1Trn 2016 Revenue .As Agency Nets N385bn, Half Year

All hopes and aspirations of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to contribute a minimum of N1 trillion as revenue for government this year, may now remain a pipe dream as the Service is only able to generate N385.7 billion half way into the year.

Customs Comptroller General, Hameed Ibrahim Ali, had boasted early in the year that the revenue contribution to government coffers for the year would not fall short of N1 trillion, regardless of the economic recession.

However, official revenue profile of NCS  performance showed that  it had only managed to hit  a meager N385.7 billion from January to June this year, despite all its efforts to booster its revenue drive beyond import duties.

For instance, the Service had initiated export policies that would enhance agricultural products exports as well a few other unpopular methods of hiking its revenue target.

With a half year target of N500bn, the Service has no doubt fallen below its record during the corresponding period last year when it generated N438.2 billion.

Industry analysts have however premised the revenue shortfall of the Service to the nationwide economic recession which has taken its toll on the import as well as the manufacturing sectors.

Giving a breakdown of the figure, image maker and Customs Public Relations Officer, Deputy Comptroller Wale Adeniyi, in a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said  that the Service recorded  N197.7 billion from import duties in cash; N203 million from import duty in non-cash receipts as Negotiable Duty Credit Certificate (NDCC); N21.876 billion came from excise duty; N910.995 million from fees; N41. 418 billion from federation account levies; while N49. 357 billion came from non-federation accounts levies.

Adeniyi also highlighted that the Service equally recorded N74. 282 billion, from Value Added Tax (VAT) within the period under review; noting that a slide of N525.5 million in the revenue generated was due to the current economic recession; reduced access to foreign exchange; and an observably significant fall in the value of Naira, all of which culminated in the present performance.

He also noted the Central Bank of Nigeria’s removal of some 41 items, from the CBN foreign exchange approved window as part of the issues accountable for the low revenue, even as he vowed that a new initiative, to reinvigorate, the corporate vision and determination was already being fine-tuned.

“There are positive indications that the economy may bounce back in the last quarter of the year”, Adeniyi posited further. We are working with Western neighbor of Benin Republic to strengthen our transit trade, particularly with vehicles….So, we sincerely expect that this will have a positive effect on our Service revenue generation, in the last quarter” he said.