The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has lamented the spate of smuggling in Nigeria,saying the act is unabated because government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) patronize smugglers by purchasing vehicles smuggled in the country.
The Assistant Comptroller General if Customs, ACG Saidu Galadima, In charge of modernization stars told members of House of Representatives committee on Finance.
According to him:” MDAs patronize smuggled Hilux vehicles. That is why if you go to our system, the number of Hilux importation has dropped but you find hundreds of them in town mostly used as escorts”.
He advocated the need for an amendment to the public procurement Act to mandate government agencies to request for evidence of the excise duty payment on imported vehicles before their purchase them.
He said:”If you make amendment to the next Finance Act, also make an amendment to Procurement Act that before a vehicle is taken over, you verify the customs duty, it would go a long way. NCS buy Hilux vehicles, but they do not take delivery until when the papers are verified that duty is paid.Any officer involved in allowing such cars are being penalized. As i am talking to you now many officers are before the board meeting for discipline”.
Speaking,the committee chairman, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, emphasized the need for customs to improve on its internal mechanism in order to block the loopholes therein.
He said:”Try to improve the checks on this. We too in government we need to encourage the executive. Someone asked me why our borders were the way they are. In other countries they are built with wall but our own is just an iron used to block the road. The executive arm of government has to do something about the borders, so they can be tight enough.
“That is why we are doing this SEMA to repeal it. Customs are short of men. We went out and all the complaints when we went to the command is that they are short of men. Customs is supposed to be 30,000 men, but they are 15,000. They cannot recruit the remaining 50 percent unless they have money. Customs is underfunded. They are are taking seven percent of duty on items. This cannot help Customs to recruit. This is one of the things we are doing. Customs needs to take this four percent FOB collection. Once they get this done Customs would be okay and most of these complaints would not be there. But as it is now they are incapacitated,” Faleke said.
