The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Apapa Command, has announced a revenue collection of N1.6 trillion in the first nine months of 2024. This figure represents 39.3 percent of the NCS’s total annual revenue target of N5.079 trillion.
This collection surpasses the command’s entire revenue collection for the previous year, which stood at N1.272 trillion, by over N300 billion.
Comptroller Babatunde Olomu, the Customs Area Controller for the Command, attributed the successful revenue collection to diligence and integrity. He emphasized the command’s commitment to continuous engagement with stakeholders to enhance revenue collection efforts and to further reduce smuggling activities.
Olomu highlighted impressive monthly collections, noting that N201.8 billion was collected in July, while N193.9 billion was recorded in September 2024, figures that he believes can be replicated in the last quarter of the year, starting in October.
He reiterated the management’s zero-tolerance policy towards smuggling and commended the officers of the command for their efforts in achieving these revenue collection milestones through diligent examination and uncompromising interventions, including the issuance of demand notices.
“Our revenue collection is good, and I know we can do better with more impressive results in the last quarter of 2024. I want to thank our compliant stakeholders for their cooperation in supporting us to achieve this level of collection,” Olomu stated.
He also pointed out that the decrease in smuggling activities is a clear indication of the compliance the command is celebrating. “We are not losing guard. Our tempo of vigilance is airtight, which attests to our capacity to detect smuggling and make seizures,” he added.