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By Faheem Lawal
Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adeniyi, has raised the alarm over possible revenue leakages from high-powered motorcycles imported into the country without payment of appropriate customs duties.
Adeniyi said the growing number of power bikes on Nigerian roads suggested that Customs might not be capturing all the revenue due from their importation, calling for greater scrutiny and enforcement.
He spoke at the closing ceremony of the NCS Zone A Inter-Command Games Competition at the Customs Training College, Ikeja, Lagos, where the large turnout of power bikes caught his attention.
“If all these power bikes had paid the correct customs duty when they entered Nigeria, maybe our revenue target would have been half met,” Adeniyi said.
The Customs boss said the service would have to pay closer attention to the importation and clearance of the motorcycles to determine whether appropriate duties were paid at the point of entry.
He suggested that enforcement officers could take advantage of gatherings of power bike owners and enthusiasts to verify their customs documentation and identify motorcycles that might have entered the country without full payment of duties.
Adeniyi, however, did not put a figure to the revenue potentially being lost to improperly cleared or under-declared power bikes.
Neither did he indicate when any intensified enforcement operation would commence.
The concern comes amid efforts by the NCS to plug revenue leakages and improve collections from imports into the country.
The Comptroller-General also expressed concern over the state of sporting facilities at the Customs Training College, saying there had been little significant improvement since he trained at the institution more than three decades ago.
“This is not a good commentary about the state of infrastructure. This is a service that has contributed to sports development in Nigeria,” he said.
Adeniyi said the condition of the facilities contrasted sharply with Customs’ achievements in Nigerian sports, including its performance in male and female volleyball and maritime football.
He promised that modern sporting facilities would be incorporated into plans for the proposed relocation of the training college.
According to him, temporary arrangements would also be made to provide improved sporting facilities for recruits pending the relocation.
Earlier, Zonal Coordinator of Zone A, Assistant Comptroller-General Muhammad Babandede, said the inter-command games grew from an informal suggestion by Adeniyi during a trip to attend a meeting with the American Business Council.
He said the proposal was subsequently presented at a zonal meeting after Ramadan and developed into the competition.
Babandede said the games were intended to promote physical fitness, teamwork, discipline and healthy competition among Customs officers and expressed optimism that subsequent editions would grow in scope.
