The Chairman, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Chapter, Nze Aloysius Igwe has absolved the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Col. Hameed Ali (rtd.) of any wrong doing in the business downturn recorded in the Nigerian maritime and Aviation sectors in the last one.
Igwe who was speaking in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of the official commissioning of the Permanent Secretariat of ANLCA at Seme border on Saturday however attributed the lull in importation in the course of last year to the government policies as it concerned FOREX.
While admitting that as a result of FOREX restriction by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), things were not working as it should in the industry even as he observed the situation was changing for the better with the relaxation of some of the policies by the CBN lately.
“It is no more news that there is a business downturn in the maritime and aviation sector of the economy in the last one year. Airport is not an exception and we attribute it to the rigors we are going to face in the cause of our business. It is not particular to Comptroller Ali as a person but I think it is a policy of which a lot of people have attributed to the Federal Government as it concerns FOREX because without foreign exchange, importers will not bring in shipment but I believe they are giving attention to that.
“We have experienced downturn, things are not really working in the industry but as we can see, government is trying to relax some of the policies, at least for now, you can deposit and make withdrawals from your domiciliary account but there are some limitations for now.
“And the association has made representations to the CG and if you listened to news some few days ago, the customs itself has realized that the revenue is dropping as a result of the downturn of import duty. The customs itself is making representations against some of the policies”, he said.
On the new Customs Area Controller posted at the Airport command recently, Igwe opined that there was a structure already in place for the new Controller to build on adding that he did not see the new Controller opting to start a new structure different from the one already on ground.
He said,” He is a gentleman, I have been able to talk and discuss with him and I believe we will work together.
Speaking on foreigners taking over the job of freight forwarding in Nigeria, he had this to say,” they are really taking over our businesses and we have made representations to the Customs because to us, it is something of great concern that at times, these people are given licenses to operate in our ports and it is not obtainable in any other port,. At least to my knowledge, it is not obtainable in any West African sub-region. Our government should do something about it”.
Igwe who was re-elected for a second term in office however disagreed with those calling for the harmonization of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) and the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) Act as a solution to the menace arguing that Customs which operated CEMA and the CRFFN which operated its Act were two different bodies under tow different Ministries namely Finance and Transportation respectively.
“Customs is the owner of the job, it should strictly work with CEMA. That is the only way we can because as an agency saddled with the responsibility of cargo clearance policies, it should work according to the rules”, Igwe said.
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