Apapa Customs nets highest revenue ever, records N201.8m in July, N1.2tr in seven months

…Warns ports users on dangers of illegitimate trade

By Ezurike Ugochukwu

The Nigeria Customs Service(NCS), Apapa Command has once more made history by generating N201,853,406,964.61 revenue for the month of July.

The command has cumulatively collected N1,227,431,323,016.24 as revenue between January and July 2024.

A feat which the controller of the command, Comptroller Babatunde Olomu, said was possible by their adherence to the Comptroller General Bashir Adewale Adeniyi’s policy thrust of timely release of goods at the ports without delay.
Given, Olomu has however expressed his upbeat of his command surpassing this record in the coming months.
Speaking to newsmen in Apapa this Wednesday, Olumo said the revenue Collected for seven months of 2024 is higher than the total revenue collected for the twelve months of 2023.
In a release signed by CSC Abubakar Usman, Public Relations Officer(PRO) of the command, the controller said the command no doubt collects revenue commensurate to the volume of trade it handles.
Compt. Olomu said, “I am optimistic about the possibility of beating this record as we look forward to surpassing it in months to come
“For the first seven months of 2024, that is January to July this year, the Apapa Area Command generated a total of N1,227,431,323,016.24.
“What has been generated so far for seven months is above the total collected revenue by the command in 2023, which was N1,172,414,793,960.32.

“In clear terms, our 2024 seven months collection is above last year’s twelve months total collection. Worthy of note is the interventions from the Tariff and Trade Department, which has contributed immensely to the successes achieved thus far.
“Our compliance desk, dispute resolution team, Valuation, PCA, CIU and other units aimed at promoting seamless trade have been reinvigorated with daily, weekly and monthly evaluation by my office to oversee the progress we are making.

“We are committed to doing more in line with the directives and motivating examples of the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR dsm psc (+).
Apapa Command handles the highest volume of trade for the NCS, collects the highest revenue, and therefore is saddled with a higher degree of expectation from the management of the service and the government, ” he said.

Comptroller Olomu met with stakeholders at the port before the commencement of the nationwide protests to assure them of customs availability for work during the period, a move that has further strengthened port users’ confidence

He advised Apapa port users to embrace only legitimate trade and restated that Apapa command is more alive to its responsibilities to detect all forms of concealment and plug any avenue for revenue leakage to the barest minimum.