By Patience Chat Moses
The Port Terminal Multiservices Ltd. (PTML) Command of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has recorded N66.9 billion revenue in the first quarter of 2024. The Customs Area Controller (CAC), PTML Command, Comptroller, Saidu Yusuf, said this at a news conference in Lagos.
Yusuf said that the figure, which was N22.19 billion higher than the N44.72 billion recorded same period in 2023, represented 49.6 per cent increase. He described the increase in the revenue collection as a laudable feat. According to him, the command is committed towards trade facilitation and supports the government’s drive on ease of doing business.
The Comptroller thanked the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, for initiating strategies to achieve faster cargo clearance. He reiterated that PTML command, under his watch, aimed to surpass its record of three hour cargo clearance for compliant traders.
“The launching of Time Release Study (TRS), which is ongoing and other deliberate efforts by the Comptroller General, had contributed to the expansion of terminal space and promoted ease of doing business in PTML. PTML command has potentials to achieve two hour cargo clearance and surpass its existing three hours record if port users’ compliance level is improved upon. PTML is one of the safest and most secure environments for RORO (Roll On Roll Off) and general cargoes,” Yusuf said.
He advised importers and their agents to take advantage of the incentives available for compliant traders such as fast track, advance ruling and possible migration to the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status. He reminded port users in PTML of the robust and time conscious dispute resolution mechanism, which had contributed immensely to the revenue collection, trade facilitation and anti-smuggling functions of the command.
Yusuf commended the various government and private sector stakeholders for their cooperation and support toward the realization of the government goal of revenue collection and prevention of unlawful activities. He also expressed optimism that the command would surpass its annual target for the year.
He described the importation of vehicles meant for Nigerian roads into neighboring countries with the intent to smuggle them through unapproved roads into Nigeria as unpatriotic and act of economic sabotage. The PTLM customs boss said that the command had the capacity for seamless and efficient processing of such automobile cargoes.
The CAC enjoined officers of the command to maximally deploy available technology and rededicate themselves to the job to achieve more revenue for the second quarter. He reminded the port users of the increased in anti-smuggling vigilance to uncover concealment such as under declaration and smuggling of prohibited items. Yusuf said that any discovered infraction would lead to full evoking of the Nigeria Customs Service Act (NCSA), where there were spelt out penalties.
In another development, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has secured a loan of $700million from Citibank backed by the United Kingdom Export Finance, UKEF, an export credit agency, to rehabilitate the Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports, Lagos. NPA has also opened a discussion with another funding agency to secure financing for upgrading of the Eastern Ports including Calabar, Warri, Onne and Rivers Ports as well as the reconstruction of Escravos breakwater facility.
Speaking in Lagos during the signing of mandate letter with Citibank Nigeria, Managing Director of the NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko, said the letter will be sent to Debt Management Office, DMO, for final review and approval. He said the funds are ready and the reconstruction of the Lagos Ports will start soonest even as the NPA perfects plans to sign another mandate letter for the upgrading of the Eastern Ports in about a month.
His words: “In the last two years, NPA has realized the need for us to rehabilitate and reconstruct the ports all over the country. We have been having discussions with multilateral funding agencies that have sent various proposals that we have reviewed. What we did is to further discussion with interested parties and we realized it is better to separate the ports in Lagos from the ports in the East, and we are in discussion with another funding agency to fund the construction of ports outside Lagos.”
According to him, the Citibank facility is the cheapest for the Ports Authority because it comes with affordable interest rates.