The first Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) was enacted in 1954 and since then, there had been many amendments, but there have never been any comprehensive efforts to get a completely new set of laws for the Nigerian Customs Service.
Apart from failure to enact a new law, government has however over the years, inaugurated committees and task forces to either review or restructure the service; the last being the one headed by former permanent secretary, federal ministry of finance, Mr Ochi Achinivu.
The first Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) was enacted in 1954 and since then, there had been many amendments, but there have never been any comprehensive efforts to get a completely new set of laws for the Nigerian Customs Service.
Apart from failure to enact a new law, government has however over the years, inaugurated committees and task forces to either review or restructure the service; the last being the one headed by former permanent secretary, federal ministry of finance, Mr Ochi Achinivu.
We recall that while inaugurating the committee, the then-minister of finance had observed that: “The Customs that we need is not one that not only does its job professionally, but also lives up to its billing as the prime agency at the nation’s ports, by actively seeking solutions to the challenges that port users face and advising government proactively on them. “We can’t afford to keep losing trade and revenue to neighbouring countries as we currently do.”
“The Customs has been rated low in the area of trade facilitation. It has been blamed for obstructing free flow of trade into and out of Nigeria. There is definitely room for improvement and there are still some officers and men that give the service a bad name”.
With this, the minister gave the Achinivu group the matching orders to turn the Nigeria Customs Service around and the committee has since its inception be working as if it were another superintending agency over the Nigeria Customs Service.
Before the Achinivu committee, there had been attempts to restructure the Customs. There was the Finance Minister Esther Nenadi Usman committee which led to the emergence of Jacob Gyang Buba as the Comptroller General of Customs; taking over from Alhaji Ahmed Mustapha who also at one time was member of a Task Force to restructure the same service.
The Task Force which is an all Customs affair was actually headed by Dr Bello Mohammed who was the sixth chief executive of the same Nigeria Customs Service; serving between 1988 and 1994.
Although the task force had two years within which they were expected to have put the Service back on the track in the quest to modernize reform, reorganise and refocus it, it was roundly condemned as a having failed in this mandate.
This probably led to the creation of Achinivu panel which drew it membership from across stakeholders; including a retired senior Customs officer, a frontline licensed customs agent and a maritime lawyer; among others.
It is this committee that is credited with initial efforts aimed reenacting and reviewing the Customs and Excise Management Act.
The Bill to that effect is now before the National Assembly, precisely it is being worked on at the upper chamber.
Going by the revelations that have been pouring out from last week’s public hearing on the Bill, it does appear to us that the present leadership of the Nigeria Customs Service goaded by the team leader, Alhaji Diko Abdulahi wanted a new look Customs that will enjoy the autonomy that it had always craved for.
The supervisory minister of finance, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo Iweala was indeed right when she told the Senators that the Nigeria Customs can not operate outside the nation’s fiscal policy.
While it may be true that the Customs deserve a lot more say in its affairs, one is at loss as to why it so desperately wants to get the service providers of the scene or better still, why is the Customs desirous of removing the influence of the minister of finance from decisions bordering on engaging the service providers.
There are so many areas of contention in the Bill as it’s laid before the Senate and the sooner stakeholders begin to stop its promoters from achieving their aim, the better for all.
One area of conflict which must be tackled by the lawmakers is the existing Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) Act.
The new CEMA should be drafted with CRFFN Act in mind so as to remove the conflict of freight forwarding and licensed customs clearing; a development which has been prominent since the CRFFN Act came into effect in 2007.
We strongly advise that CEMA and CRFFF should play complimentary roles and not antagonize each other. It is worrisome that the document which is being worked on does not take cognizance of the existence of CRFFN.
As much as a new CEMA is desirable and long overdue, its success or otherwise will depend on its being realistic about the existence and importance of the CRFFN Act; which is also a law which the Nigerian National Assembly enacted to promote integrity and best practices in freight forwarding; an integral part of which licensed customs clearing is.
Our fear is that the various National Assembly committees have shown over time that they are never guided by inputs and contributions of stakeholders whom they always invite to attend public hearings. Examples of such abound; the Ports and Harbour Bill, the MASECA Bill, the Chartered Institute of Shipping of Nigeria Bill are all examples of bills that were considered without recourse to inputs of stakeholders.
Considering this penchant, we hope the Senate and the House of Representatives will not eventually pass the CEMA Amendment Bill as it currently is.
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