The immediate past chairman of airport chapter of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) Mr. Segun Musa has said that most of the revenues collected at the airport by the customs were generated through fraudulent means.
Musa who disclosed this on Monday in Lagos during an interview with Shipping Position Daily, also accused Customs of imposing what he called ‘window shopping price’ that they got from the internet on importers.
Buttressing his point, Musa said, “Let me use airport as example, up till now the source of major revenues at the airport are fraudulent. The revenue being collected at the airport by the customs is collected fraudulently. The customs will go on internet and will check window shopping price on internet and they will impose it on the importers. They are not working with their data bank because they don’t even have a data bank they only claim to have one”.
He also alleged that Customs offices are lazy. ”The customs we have these days seems to be very lazy; in those days we have customs that are very hard working and they know how to compile the data bank. But these days they are so lazy, they only go on internet and they will impose that on the importer and once the importer has the capacity to bring out those goods, he won’t be able to sell the goods and make profit and some of them will close shop and start doing something else and these are part of the problems that is killing our economy silently. And nobody is raising any issue about these”.
He also said that the inconsistency in government policies are the major challenge the ease of doing business at the ports is encountering, even as he advised the government to ensure that its policies are consistent, so that purpose of the ease of doing business will be properly achieved.
He also lampooned the recent decision of the government to bring back National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) back to the ports, describing it as the peak of inconsistency of government policies.
“It is inconsistent, does that mean someone somewhere is not thinking. Why was that decision taken without taking precaution and the rest of the world are laughing at us as if the country is not a serious country? It is so shameful and I know any moment from now, SON will be called back and all other agencies that the government had asked to move out of the ports will be called back. Then the essence of trade facilitation will be defeated”, he added.
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