Executive Order: Customs, DSS not sacked from seaports

THE Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Department of State Service (DSS), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Immigration Service are among the seven approved agencies to operate at the nation’s seaports.

Others are the Port Health, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigeria Police, contrary to earlier report.

The announcement was made by the Managing Director of NPA, Ms Hadiza Bala-Usman, in Apapa, Lagos, on Wednesday, during a meeting with other agencies of government.

The development was to enforce the Executive Order handed out to the agencies at the seaports by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.

The latest act also sacked the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON); Port Quarantine Services; National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) from the seaports with immediate effect.

Also, other agencies not listed as approved were asked to leave the seaports.

According to the NPA boss, “I want to recognise seven approved agencies of government that operate at the port.
“In 2011, an approval was granted to streamline activities of government agencies at the port. For ease of referencing, the approved agencies are Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA); Nigerian Customs Service (NCS); Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); Nigeria Police Force; Department of State Security (DSS); Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and Port Health.

“The above mentioned agencies are the approved ones authorised to operate at the ports, and anyone operating at the port outside these seven agencies are not required and they should know they have to vacate whatever location they were having within the port,” she ordered.

According to her, the current order stipulated that agencies which services were not approved must not operate within the port at all.

Bala-Usman said specifically that the agencies ejected from the ports were to come in only when their services were required.

Also speaking, Comptroller-General of Customs, Colonel Hameed Ali (retd), said the meeting was key to the operations of the service.

He said the order, when implemented, would reduce clearing time and cost of doing business at the ports.
“I want to say we have embarked on a change process that we have never had before and there is tendency to say it is one of those things .

“It’s going to stay because we believe all of us should be committed to this. The ease of doing business is to reduce time and processes and cost at the ports.

“I will enjoin all of you to join hands with all of us and to ensure that we implement this to the latter.

“This will help in reducing time, cost‎ of doing business at the port and for importers, this is critical to them.

“It is critical because there is no need to spend more time doing what we should do in three or five minutes. There is no need to lengthen our paper process. It doesn’t make any sense,” he said.

The Executive Order, issued by Acting President Osinbajo on May 18, said: “all agencies currently physically present in Nigerian ports shall, within 60 days, harmonise their operations into one single interface station domiciled in one location in the port and implemented by a single joint task force at all times, without prejudice to necessary back end procedures.

“There shall be no touting whatsoever by official or unofficial persons at any port in Nigeria. On duty staff shall be properly identified by uniform and official cards while off duty staff shall stay away from the ports, except with the express approval of the agency head. The NPA security shall enforce this order.”

The order also directed each port in the country “to assign an existing export terminal to be dedicated to the exportation of agriculture produce within 30 days of the issuance order.”