Nigeria Customs Service, Port Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML) Command, Lagos, has collected N104,649,202,251 as revenue into the coffers of the Federal Government for the first half of 2021.
The figure represents a 19.2 percent increase above the N87,818,715,599.45 that was collected within the same period of last year January to June.
The Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Festus Okun disclosed this in a statement issued by the Command spokesperson, Mohammed Yakubu, noting that the increase in revenue collection was due partly to operational strategies put in place to prevent revenue leakages, promote trade facilitation and achieve seamless cargo clearance for compliant importers.
Festus also attributed the feat to the volume of trade which saw comparative increases in the monthly collection from March 2021 after initial revenue shortfalls in the earlier months of January and February when compared with the 2020 collection.
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A comparative breakdown of month-by-month revenue collection of 2020 and 2021 shows N16,456,582,954.22 in January 2020 which was 7.6 percent higher than N15,205,823,545 collected in January 2021. Last year’s February collection of N13,300,872,189.64 was also higher by 11.9 percent than the N11,706,947,150 of February this year.
The command recorded a surge of increases in the monthly collection from March to June of the year 2021 compared to what was collected same period of the year 2020. Collections from demand notices from uncovered revenue shortfalls within the period amounted to N499,376,085
In March 2021, the command generated N19,937,869,175.00 which is 27.4 percent than N15,646,193,726.04 of March 2020. In April this year, the command collected N17,938,794,417 which is 59.6 percent higher than the N11,241,400,911.00 of last year.
For May and June 2021 the command collected N17,606,073,741.00 and N22,253,694,223.00 which are 28.9 percent and 27.1 percent above 2020 collections of N13,661,428,914.48 and N17,512,236,904.07 respectively.
A total number of 95 ships berthed at the PTML terminal carrying 17,717 containers and 118,431 imported vehicles between January and June 2021.
In the area of export, the Command handled export goods with a total tonnage of 77,000.23 metric tons, with a total Free on Board (FOB) value of N55, 546,188,324.64 only.
Comptroller OKun commended the officers and men of the command for their patriotism and commitment to national interest while urging them to double their efforts to achieve a more resounding feat by the end of 2021.
The Controller described PTML as a model port with many advantages for Importers and exporters and urged them to increase their level of compliance.
He reiterated that the four-hour clearance time for compliant Roll on Roll off (RoRo) cargoes is very much subsisting, adding that PTML provides an opportunity for vehicle importation with speedy clearance being a model RoRo Port that should discourage car smuggling through land borders.
