The Nigeria Customs Service said that it has already surpassed its 2017 revenue target of N1.1trillion by about N10billion.
This is the first in the last four years that the Service is surpassing its revenue target. This is however happening under its present Comptroller General, Col Hameed Ali (rtd).
Confirming this exclusively to Shipping Position Daily last week, National Public Relations Officer for the Customs; Mr. Joseph Attah noted that the Service has performed greatly in the year under review.
A breakdown of the activities of the agency in the past four years showed that, out of its official target of N937billion for 2016, Customs was only able to rake-in N898billion.
In 2015, the Customs collected a total of N903 billion out of a target of N954billion.
The Service also collected about N977.09 billion in 2014 out of its target of N1.2 trillion for the year.
But speaking with Shipping Position Daily last week, the Customs spokesman said, "we are doing very well and we are clearly going to exceed our target for year 2017, I know that we are doing very well and I don't have any fear in telling you that by the end of this month (December), we would have exceeded the target for the year".
He also confirmed that, "as I speak to you we have no fear at all because we have already surpassed our target by over N10billion".
On the alleged examination malpractice that reportedly characterised the 2017 examinations for senior officers of the service, Attah said that only one paper was cancelled and that it has been retaken last week.
Attah told our correspondent that, "the present customs management has zero tolerance for anything that infringes on transparency and integrity, it is true that examinations were held for different cadre of officers, but that particular exam was for Assistant Controllers moving to Deputy Comptrollers”
"There were insinuations here and there that the integrity of the questions is questionable, so in order to ensure that at the end of the day, whoever gets promoted would not be under doubts from any quarters and insinuations would not arise as to how he or she got promoted, so the management of the service directed that only that paper be cancelled and rescheduled".
"However, the examination has come and gone, it was done under the strictest condition possible and we expect that those who would get promoted in that examination would be those that actually deserved it", he assured.
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