Few months after the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) halted the electronic auctioning of overtime cargoes due to issues relating to e-wallet, investigation by Shipping Position Daily has revealed that the service may have resolved the issue.
The National Public Relations Officer (NPRO) of the service, Mr. Joseph Attah, a Deputy Controller (DC) of Customs, had once blamed the inability of the winners to service their e-wallet, as one of the reasons the e-auction was halted.
But giving update on the platform, Attah, in a telephone chat with our correspondent last week, disclosed that the e-wallet has been rectified, even as he added that they service is however yet to flag-off a new round of the e-auctioning.
“The issues with the e-wallet have been resolved, but they have not started the new phase, when we are about starting the new phase, we usually talk about it, I will go on air to talk about it”, he assured.
The Customs image maker also said that the service is in the process of taking fresh inventories of over time seizures in all the commands.
Attah however blamed court procedures as the reason it takes a little time before goods can be auctioned, adding that the service must wait for the goods to be condemned before they can be auctioned.
According to him, “Right now they are going round, taking the statistics that are available; seizures that have been condemned. You see what people don’t know is that when you seize these things; it can just be there up to one year. You have no right to auction it, until the court condemns it”
“Even when the CGC came to Ikeja recently for briefing, he talked about it, you cannot carry someone’s vehicle and auction. Until the whole processes are over, we can’t auction them”
Attah did not disclose when the service will start the new phase of the auctioning of the commodities.
“Honestly, I won’t commit myself by telling you when the second phase of the auctioning will start. I might say one month and it will start earlier than that” he concluded.
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