As part of measures to ensure unhindered disbursement of money for the management of the Nigeria Customs Service as well as to finance its capital and recurrent expenditure, the Federal Government may soon approve seven per cent of the total revenue collected by the Service for its upkeep.
Customs sources, which disclosed this to our correspondent in Lagos on Tuesday, said that the idea, which is already receiving attention at the Presidency, was part of the proposal by the Presidential Implementation Committee on the Reforms of the Customs.
The Minister of State for Finance, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, heads the PIC, which was inaugurated after the Presidential Committee on the Reform of the Customs was disbanded, following the appointment of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Mr. Jacob Gyang Buba, in April 2004.
About N2.5 billion was approved for the upkeep of the service in 2004, which the source said is a far-cry from the amount needed to maintain the over 17,500 officers and men and also embark on capital projects such as building, renovation of barracks and provision of facilities and equipment.
According to the source, the proposal was initially turned down by the Federal Government, which argued that five per cent of the total revenue collected by the Customs in the preceding year was enough to maintain the service, pay salaries and other allowances and finance its capital projects.
�The cheering news is that after much debates on the appropriate percentage of the total revenue collected that would be disbursed to the Service for its upkeep, the PIC was able to convince the government on the need to approve seven per cent.
�What this means is that the service will no longer be going to the Federal Government through the Ministry of Finance to solicit for the release of funds for its maintenance and for provision of funds under the national budget.
�The new arrangement will ensure that the Service can withdraw at source seven per cent of the total revenue collected in the previous year so that it is completely removed from any political influence and thereby ginger the service to strive to achieve a higher revenue,� the source said.
When contacted on the development, the Customs Public Relations Officer, Mr. Wale Adeniyi, disclosed that the proposal was still being studied by the service and noted that the Federal Government had not communicated its approval to the Customs management.
Our source also hinted that, if the proposal is finally approved, the service would have to work out the modalities for the deduction of the money and other necessary arrangements to facilitate the disbursement of the fund to ensure accountability and probity.
The NCS collected a total of N207.54 billion from import duty and other levies in the first eight months of 2004. The service had between January and November 2003 collected N263.64 billion from import duty and other charges.
The 2004 revenue figure, which was obtained by our correspondent in Abuja, represents an increase of 14.5 per cent over the N181.25 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2003.
