The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) may have beamed its searchlight on the financial operations of seaport terminal operators at the Nigerian ports.
This is even as the Customs said that one of the terminal operators, Five Star Logistics Limited, had its port operation activities deactivated from the Customs portal because it failed to respond to a query on the whereabouts of N97.3 million revenue discovered in its transactions with the government.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune exclusively, spokesman of the Tin-Can Island Customs Command, Uche Ejesieme, explained that the exercise was a routine procedure and that the system would trigger an alert once any revenue shortfall was noticed in any terminal operators’ transaction with Customs.
According to Uche Ejesieme, “What happened in the case of Five Star Logistics Terminal Limited was routine.
“We were not supposed to deactivate Five Star Logistics Terminal, but when we wrote to them on July 6 or thereabouts, we expected a response from them but didn’t get any. It was when we waited and didn’t get any response from them that we deactivated them from the Customs portal one week after. If Five Star had responded as at when due, we wouldn’t have deactivated them from the Customs platform.
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“The check is routine. It shouldn’t be seen as an indictment or punitive action by the terminal operators. If after paying and the operators file necessary documentation that they are not owing the government, they can apply for duty recovery or duty drawback, and if their claims are genuine, they will get a refund of their money.
“It is a routine exercise and no terminal operator is exempted, irrespective of size or name. Customs is always carrying out this check on all operators at the ports. Any operator that is found to have shortchanged the government by whatever means will be notified and if such operator refuses to respond, his services would be deactivated.
“Every kobo that belongs to the government must be accounted for. If any operator feels slighted or wronged, such operator can provide the Customs with necessary documentation backing up their claims. If they are found to be right, such operators will be asked to apply for duty drawbacks and the already paid money will be refunded back to the operator.
“If Five Star had responded to the alert served it since July 6, Customs wouldn’t have deactivated its operation from the portal.”