Bill To Overhaul Customs Operations Scales 2nd Reading

The House of Representatives has passed a bill to overhaul the operations of the Nigerian Customs for second reading on Tuesday.

The bill sponsored by Leke Abejide (APC,Kogi) seeks “to Repeal the Customs and Excise Management Act, Cap C45, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and to Enact an Act to Establish the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2021”.

Leading the debate on the bill, Abejide said, there is need for a holistic overhaul of our Customs and Excise legislation in view of its contribution to fiscal and national policy development.

.He stated that, “Since 1958, more than half a century ago, the Nigeria Customs and Excise Management Act has not undergone any major reform.

“You will agree with me that in today’s competitive world, the Act, its Regulations, and its Operational Guidelines are archaic, obsolete, and no longer in tandem with modern day challenges, and this has

unfortunately reduced measurably the accruing revenue against the volume of trade”.

He added that the new Act will position the Nigeria Customs Service to be financially stable in order to recruit the required number of Officers they need to man our porous border stations.

He said, “The Nigeria Customs service recently had 15,349 officers instead of 30,000 officers needed for the Service to function optimally.

“The current 7% cost of collection from Duties payment is not enough to pay salaries of officers, not to talk of improving the infrastructures. For this reason, this Bill provides for additional funding.

“Collation of all Customs and Excise Legislations into a single compendium of Customs and Excise Act to facilitate easy reference and easy knowledge driven Customs and Excise policies”.