Customs Generate N976.6 bn From January To August 2020

By Our Correspondent

The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has generated N976.6 billion between January and August 2020, and is set to beat its 2019 record.

This was made known in a document released from the service through its Public Relations Office saying the service generated its highest revenue from import duty followed by charges from Value Added Tax (VAT).

From the document, NCS said it realised N471.7 billion from import duty trailed by the N216.4 billion generated from the Customs’ VAT while the sum of N120.4 billion was generated from non-federation accounts levies, while N84.3 billion was from federation accounts levies.

The document also added that the sum of N76.9 billion was generated from excise duty and N6.6 billion was received from fees.

All these cumulated to N976.6 billion, which showed that it was on course to beat the sum of N1.3 trillion that was generated as revenue in 2019. In 2019, the agency gave itself a target of N937 billion but it exceeded it by N404 billion.

Meanwhile, the Comptroller-General of NCS, Mr. Hameed Ali, has assured the country of generating substantial revenue in spite of the pandemic as he commended his officers and men for their resilience and commitment to duty during the challenging period of coronavirus.

“Nigeria and indeed the world have been challenged with COVID-19, but we are still doing our best, there is no cause for alarm in terms of revenue generation,” Mr. Ali said.

Recently, the federal government approved $3.1 billion for the automation of customs operations.