The Nigerian Customs Service Apapa Area Command has said that between January and December 2022, the command collected N1tn worth of revenue.
Addressing journalists at the command in Apapa, Lagos on Thursday, Area Customs Comptroller Malanta Yusuf said the figure was 16 per cent higher compared to the N870bn collected by the command the previous year.
“This feat was made possible by the resiliency of our officers and men in blocking revenue leaks and ensuring that all unpaid returns and unused pre-arrival screening reports were tracked and accounted for in the federal government coffers.”
It also said that N28.2bn of commodities were exported through the command within the period under review.
Yusuf said that in 2022 the command recorded a total of $68.5 million in free export shipments on board.
He also said the figure had a total tonnage of 6.4 million metrics.
“Items exported through the Apapa port last year 2022 include steel bars, agricultural products such as hibiscus, sesame, cocoa, cashew nuts, ginger, soybeans, and mineral products.”
However, Yusuf said that the industry experienced a back drop in trade from the second quarter of 2022.
“It will be recalled that starting in the second quarter of last year, the industry experienced a trade backdrop, caused by exchange rate fluctuations and a sharp drop in consumer purchasing power that made trade unpredictable.
“In the year under review, a total of 157 containers with a paid duty value of N14.4bn were seized against 102 containers with DPV of N32bn seized in 2021,” it added.
The head of Apapa Customs said counterfeit and prohibited drugs without the necessary certification from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control and Tramadol overdoses top the list of seizures made last year.
