Clearing agents operating at the nation’s seaports have assured the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, of support to achieve its over N5 trillion revenue target for 2024.
Speaking under the aegis of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), the national vice president, Segun Oduntan, also called on the government to address bottlenecks militating against export to boost Nigeria’s foreign earnings and strengthen the naira.
Oduntan called on the government to face the provision of an intermodal system of transportation in the country with the seriousness it deserves by establishing cargo rails to aid speedy movement of both export and import cargoes in and out of the port.
He also called on the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola to liaise with his counterpart in the ministry of works to ensure the speedy completion of the port access roads and for the port system to operate on 24 hours operation.
Speaking on supporting Customs to realise its revenue target, Oduntan urged clearing agents to comply with trade rules and refrain from false declaration of goods.
The Customs CG has been talking to his officers, we can see a renew Customs now, people are happy doing the work and we agents have been talking to our people that it is better to be compliant than for us to be paying one levy or fine
He said, “The N5 trillion revenue target is only a projection by Customs and there is nothing wrong in being optimistic when projecting for a new year, it will only make the officers sit tight.
“The Customs CG has been talking to his officers and we can see a renewed Customs now, people are happy doing the work and we the agents have been talking to our people that it is better to be compliant than for us to be paying one levy or fine.”
“We have found out that there is no point, if you are supposed to pay a duty of N3 million for instance, and you went and paid N1.6 million, you are given a Debit Note and the penalty of 25 per cent of that amount , it doesn’t make any sense. It’s better to be compliant from the onset, That will give you peace of mind of a fruitful day at work” he said.