Charles Abuede
Recent data obtained from Joseph Attah, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) revealed that the agency generated a total of N466.1 billion in revenues during the first quarter of 2021 after it delivered in cold performance in 2020 resulting from the COVID-19 induced stress on the Nigerian economy.
According to the statistics, the Nigerian customs recorded the sum of N169.4 billion in form of revenues during the month of March 2021, making it the highest amount generated during the period while January and February revenues were N157.6 billion and N138.9 billion respectively. Also, the data showed that during the period under review, the sum of N216.9 billion was generated by the agency in form of import duty while the customs value-added tax followed the log with N105.2 billion and the non-federation accounts levies stood at about N55.5 billion.
Furthermore, a cursory breakdown of the document showed that N50.8 billion was generated from federation account levies while N34.5 billion was gotten from excise duty as well as N2.8 billion from fees. Similarly, the statistics revealed that within the period under review, the government agency made a seizure of different contraband goods valued at over N1,996,145,258 and confiscating 37,206 bags of imported rice between the period of January and March 2021.
