Nigeria Customs collects about N5bn daily since border closure – Ali

He also said that the agency collects between N4.7 billion and N5.8 billion daily since the federal government closed the nation’s major borders.

He made the revelation on Wednesday when he appeared before the National Assembly joint committee on finance. The committee is currently considering the 2020 – 2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) submitted to both chambers by President Muhammadu Buhari, last week.

The customs boss said that most cargoes that used to berth in Benin Republic and later smuggle their goods into the country, now use Nigerian ports.

He also said the agency’s revenue has not dropped but rather increased as the a result of the closure.

“When we closed the border my fear was that our revenue is going to drop. To be honest our revenue kept increasing. There was a day in September that we collected N9.2billion in one day. It has never happened before.

“This is after the closure of the border and since then, we have maintained an average of about N4.7billion to N5.8 billion on a daily basis which is far more than we used to collect.

“What we have discovered is that most of those cargoes that used to go to Benin (Republic), shipped to Benin, continue and then discharged and smuggled into Nigeria, now that we have closed the border they are forced to bring their goods to either Apapa or Tin Can Island and we have to collect duty on them.

“If that would continue to us it is a welcome situation. As a matter of fact, to answer your question, our revenue has not reduced. As a matter of fact, it is increasing as a result of closing the border,” he said.