As discussions over federal government’s approval for the customs modernization contract continue, the Managing Director of Goldlink Investment Limited, Sir Tony Anakebe has faulted the contract which intends to hand over the revenue collection function of the Nigeria Customs Service to private firms over a period of years.
Speaking to newsmen in Lagos on the matter, Sir Anakebe stated that the issue of customs globally cannot be undermined by anybody adding that in most countries of the world, customs collects revenue for the government and it was well managed.
While admitting that e-customs is the way to go, he however opposed the idea of giving out such project to private firms when there are technocrats in the NCS that could easily handle the project to the utmost satisfaction of the government.
According to him, “There is no need for concession of any of the customs functions. What we want now is for them to improve on generation of PAAR. If they improve on it, we don’t need contractors to be collecting one percent of our money, it is not advisable. Nigeria cannot concession revenue collection. Our ports, we have concessioned it more than ten years ago, what is Nigerian government making from it? A lot of money is being made from the port and the concessionaires are repatriating it out of Nigeria.
“E- Customs is the best where the government appoints a technocrat who can harness the customs formalities. I am talking about technocrats in customs; we have seasoned customs officers who can handle this revenue collection by customs. But this political appointments in customs, sometimes gives room for people who doesn’t know what it takes to be in that office to find their way in that office.
“There is no way we can say that Ali has never tried in revenue collection. He has done his best and his best might not be the utmost best. My point is that Ali has done his best in increasing the revenue. However, check the six or seven Comptrollers General before him, all of them were steadily increasing revenue until Ali came and now, Ali generates trillions but most of them started from one billion up to five hundred billion to about seven hundred billion. The seven Comptroller Generals didn’t retire below the revenue mark they met in office. We expect that revenue mark will continue to rise but we are still calling for a professional customs officer to be appointed as the Comptroller General.”
He noted that the problem with Nigeria was corruption in the management of affairs and the way people were being affected even as he recalled that for more than a decade now, port users had been clamouring for a National Single Window platform which according to him would serve as a one stop shop for all port users in the country and make business transaction in the port environment seamless.
He lamented that duplication of processes and excessive physical contact between the agents/importers and the customs officials at the nation’s seaports breeds corruption which he said would not stop unless physical contact with relevant agencies was eliminated.
In his words, “There is no need for any importer to enter the port; there is no need for any agent to enter the port unless there is urgent need to do so. Single window platform is the way to go. When you go Dubai, you can‘t see any agent walk inside the ports because the port is well sealed. You cannot come into the port without getting a clearance to do so. Just go and do your transaction, upload your documents through the system, send it and they will work on it, meanwhile, the container has been scanned while being discharged from the ship.”
While describing the operations of the NCS as wonderful, Anakebe however said that “there is room for improvement and I will continue to tell you that as long as we continue to create these loopholes that you get in contact with the Federal Operations Unit, Federal Task Force, the CGC Strike Force and so on, there must be corruption in one way or the other.”
It will be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari recently consented to the modernization exercise which will see a contractor undertake the development of the electronic based customs processes and procedures for the NCS.
The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd.) who disclosed the Presidential consent at the graduation of Senior Course 3 of the Nigeria Customs Command and Staff College, Gwagwalada, Abuja, also said that deployment of technology would go a lon way in enhancing the activities of the service as well as change the manner NCS operates.
Also recall that in a letter addressed to the Minister of Finance and copied to the Director General, Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) and the Comptroller General of Customs earlier in September 2019, the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari revealed plan to concession the revenue collection function of the service to four private companies under the customs modernization project.
Photo: Managing Director, Goldlink Investment Limited, Sir Tony Anakebe.
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