Author: Saint Augustine

Dr. Boniface Aniebonam is the founder of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF). In this interview with newsmen, he bares his mind on the visit of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali to Lagos last, his speech, the inter-associations rivalry and many more. Our correspondent was at the parley and filed in this report. Excerpts; You clamoured for a visit to the Lagos Ports by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd.) and now he has heed to your call by visiting Lagos Ports. What is your opinion about the just concluded visit of the…

The Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd.) has explained that there was never a ban on the importation of rice into the country as widely believed in many quarters. Ali who made this clarification in Lagos on Friday while fielding questions from Journalists in a press briefing to round up his weeklong tour of customs formations in Lagos further explained that customs did not in any lift the ban on rice as being speculated in some quarters. According to him, customs only lifted a restriction it placed on its own accord on the payment of duty on rice at…

… Says only Finance Minister can decide its fate The Nigeria Customs Service has said that only the Minister of Finance could determine what use the 1% Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) which hitherto was paid to the service providers under the Risk Assessment Report (RAR) regime would be put to. Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs (DCG) Akin Adewuyi made this know while fielding questions from journalists at a press briefing to mark the end of the weeklong familiarization visit of the Comptroller-General of Customs to Customs formations in Lagos on Friday. Adewuyi who acknowledged that while the service still collects…

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Customs Services (NCS) have reiterated their resolve to work, collaborate and partner with a view to enhancing the revenue generation strategies of the Federal Government from the nation’s seaports. One way of achieving this goal is the creation of a conducive working environment that will be of mutual benefit to both the management and operations of the two organisations. Both the Managing Director NPA, Mallam Habib Abdullahi and the Comptroller General of Customs, Colonel Hameed Ali (Rtd.) have stressed the need for the two agencies to see themselves as “partners in progress”,…

The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has described as unnecessary the press release issued by the Concerned Accredited Freight Forwarders (CAFFA) in which it described the speech delivered by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd.) at a stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos on Monday as lacking direction and character on how to tackle corruption in the ports. In a press release issued on Thursday in Lagos and made available to Primetime Reporters, the National Publicity Secretary of ANLCA, Dr. Kayode Farinto observed that the issues raised by the group in its press release issued on Wednesday were…

The Marine and Naval Architects (MENA) Division of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) has taken a swoop on the Federal Government for failing to include the maritime sector of the country in the last debasing exercise carried out under the last administration. Speaking in a welcome address to usher in the 4th Annual Conference/Annual General Meeting of the Division in Lagos, the Chairman of MENA, Engr. (Rtd. Navy Capt.) Dominic Onabanjo who expressed sadness over the development however stated that the trend should not be allowed to continue. Recalling that the Nigerian maritime industry had the potential to become…

The Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali has said that henceforth, no customs officer would stay in a command for more than three years. Ali who made this position known yesterday while addressing the Officers and Men of the PTML Customs Command as part of his ongoing familiarization tour of all customs formation in Lagos disclosed that while three years could be the maximum number of years an officer would put in at a command, an officer could be moved out of a command after six months if it so required adding that the era of an officer staying…

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has said that it will welcome more Canadian firms to take advantage of the numerous investment opportunities presented by the successful reform of the Nigerian port system. The Managing Director of NPA, Mallam Habib Abdullahi made this pledge Wednesday at the visit of the Canadian Deputy High Commissioner to the Corporate Headquarters in Marina Lagos. Mallam Habib Abdullahi recounted that even though at present the NPA had a contract relationship with a Canadian firm handling the proposed 25 years Port master plan and some Information Communication Technology (ICT) projects, he would want Canadian firms to…

…Ogunlesi, Atawodi, Babaeko, others as lead discussants Nigeria’s largest online mall, Konga has confirmed that the Chairman of Troyka Holdings Limited, Biodun Shobanjo, and the Chief Executive Officer of Konga, Sim Shagaya will be speaking at the Konga 2015 Sellers Summit slated to hold on Saturday October 17, 2015 at Eko Hotel and Suites. Other speakers will include Chief Executive Officer of Jobberman, Awoyemi Opeyemi; Chief Executive Officer of X3M Ideas, Steve Babaeko, Google Nigeria Country Manager, Ebi Atawodi and Managing Director Anglophone Africa, DHL, Randy Buday. Among the lead discussants for the panel sessions are: Managing Partner, Red Media…

Being a full text of the press release issued by the Concerned Accredited Freight Forwarding Associations (CAFFA) on the ongoing familiarization visit of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd.) to Customs formations in Lagos. See details below; Rtd. Col. Hameed Ali of the Nigeria Customs Service familiarization tour may have been received with mixed feelings We want to believe that his presence in the Western Zone of the seaports, airports, and border stations of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is merely a familiarization tour rather than a working visitation.  It is the only way CAFFA can console itself over…