Banks get ultimatum to transmit Customs duty payment to CBN

Nigerian banks are now required to transmit the payment of Customs Duty to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) within 24 business hours or face sanctions.

The Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr. Wale Adeniyi made this known during an exclusive chat with to Business and Maritime Summit in Lagos on Wednesday.

He explained that the former practice whereby banks collected duties on behalf of the Customs and fail to remit it to the CBN on time would no longer be tolerated.

He stressed that a pilot test of the new regulation had begun in Abuja and implemented at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.

The result generated from the new procedure, Adeniyi added, showed a remarkable improvement in the revenue generated by the NCS as opposed to what obtained in the past.

"The number of assessment has trippled from 600 per month to 1,800 per month while revenue generation has also tripled in the same", he stressed..

He added that the procedure has therefore been introduced all over the federation and urged all banks designated to collect Customs duty to comply with the new regulation without fail.

Comptroller Nwokocha reads riot act to smugglers
Smugglers operating in Oyo and Osun States will no longer find it easy as the Customs Area Comptroller, Mrs. Chinwe Nwokocha has declared he determination to wage a decisive war against economic criminals.

To underscore her resolve, the Oyo/Osun Command recently seized a trailer load of assorted textile along Oyo/Ibadan road particularly at Akinyele Local Government Area.

The seizure has a Duty Paid Value of more than N35 million.

In the last three weeks, the Nwokocha-led Command had made other seizures worth N25 million including eight (8) vehicles, four of which are currently under investigation.

Underscoring her resolve to discourage smugglers from the illegal trade, Nwokocha made allusions to Professor Chinua Achebe's masterpiece saying "If the birds of smugglers continue to fly without perching, my officers will continue to shoot without ceasing".

She advised smugglers to engage in legitimate activities to avoid the wrath of the law warning that anyone found carrying out illegal trade and economic sabotage would be dealt with according to the law.