MMA Customs Command Earns N74bn in Revenue

Kathy Kyari

Comptroller Muhammad Yusuf, the Customs Area Controller at Murtala Muhammed Airport Command, has disclosed that the Command's revenue collection from January to October 2023 amounted to seventy-four billion, two hundred and eighty-six million, seven hundred and seven thousand, four hundred and forty-three naira, and one Kobo (N74,286,707,443.01k).

Yusuf stated that the revenue generated during the same period of last year was sixty billion, fifty-six million, one hundred and twenty-five thousand, eight hundred and twenty-three naira, and twenty-nine Kobo (N60,056,125,823.29k). This represents a 23 percent increase in revenue.

He reported that the Command had intercepted unregistered pharmaceutical products in its attempt to stop smuggling, which were suspected to be Tramadol tablets. These products exceeded the amount allowed by the Federal Government and had a duty-paid value of N3,556,802,942.18k, or three billion, five hundred and fifty-six million, eight hundred and two thousand, nine hundred and forty-two naira, eighty-two kobo.

The Controller further claimed that information obtained from surveillance and the identification of certain understaffed airport locations had allowed for the spike in seizures that had been reported. He said that more seizures were reported as a result of police being sent to these locations to monitor any gaps that were found.

"We have been having a series of stakeholders meeting, and each time there is any issue, we come and we trash such issues here and like I told you in the last press briefing we had, we only share intelligence and the airport is such that goods that come in are cleared immediately". He said

“Of recent, we discovered that an area was not properly being manned. We have terminal operatives and other people using that route unknown to us. So we went down, studied the architecture and immediately we sealed this area, we had this number of seizures.

“The Command has maintained it’s open door policy and resolved a lot of issues of common interest with concerned stakeholders. We thank our critical stakeholders, sister agencies and the media for their collaborative effort in carrying out our statutory mandate.

In addition, he expressed gratitude to Comptroller-General of Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi for creating a supportive atmosphere for the refurbishment of the command headquarters.

“I also use this medium to thank the Controller General of Customs, Comptroller Bashir Adewale Adeniyi for providing an enabling environment for the Command as regards the renovation of the Command. I also thank officers and men of the Command and urge them to remain focused and steadfast in discharging their assigned responsibilities.”