The Nigeria Customs Service’s Apapa Area Command has achieved a massive new milestone, recording a revenue collection of N304 billion for the month of October. This figure represents the highest monthly revenue ever generated by any customs command in the history of the Service, signalling a major win for the federal government’s non-oil revenue drive.
This record collection easily surpassed the N264 billion collected in October last year. More significantly, the command’s total revenue for the first ten months of this year now stands at over N2.4 trillion, meaning it has already exceeded its entire collection for the whole of 2024 with two months still left in the current year.
Comptroller Emmanuel Oshoba, the Customs Area Controller for the Command, hailed the achievement as a direct result of efficiency and compliance. He described the latest feat as an initial proof of the command’s readiness to process a higher volume of trade, which will translate to greater collection for the government.
“I commend my officers and our compliant stakeholders for this revenue collection milestone, but it’s not our final destination,” Comptroller Oshoba said. “We are deploying all tools of trade facilitation, including the One-Stop-Shop system that harmonises procedures to save time and boost efficiency. At the same time, we are preventing leakages by maintaining a zero-compromise stance against duty evasion and actively using demand notices to recover shortfalls.”
He also revealed the command is preparing for a new era of trade facilitation with the deployment of a Drive-Through Scanning regime. This technology is expected to process an average of 150 containers per hour directly from the quayside, a development he called “revolutionary” for port operations across West Africa.
From an economic perspective, this record revenue from Nigeria’s busiest seaport is vital for the nation’s fiscal stability, particularly amidst challenges with oil production and the need to fund the national budget. The sharp increase suggests two major factors are at play: improved operational efficiency and a higher value of imports, which has likely been inflated by the current exchange rate regime. While the higher Customs duty is a crucial financial boost for the government, it also reflects the increased cost of importation for Nigerian businesses and, subsequently, the price of goods for final consumers.
Comptroller Oshoba stressed the importance of quick cargo movement, noting his visits to the Port Manager to strengthen collaboration with the Nigerian Ports Authority. “If cleared consignments fail to exit, new ones coming for examination or scanning would be slowed down. This affects trade directly and hinders our revenue and facilitation mandates,” he explained, urging all stakeholders to cooperate to make the port more efficient and business-friendly.
