Customs re-imposes ban on rice importation

ABUJA— The Nigeria Customs Service has re-introduced the restriction order on importation of rice through land borders across the country.

Jonathan at the Rice mill

Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (retd), gave the approval for the reversal of an earlier policy in October 2015 which allowed rice imports through the land borders, once appropriate duty and charges were paid.

At a review session held with Comptrollers of Border Commands and Federal Operation Units in Abuja, yesterday, the service noted that dwindling revenue from rice imports through the land borders did not match the volume of rice landed in ports of neighbouring countries.

The Customs in a statement by Wale Adeniyi, Public Relations Officer, said: “Rather, reports from border commands indicated an upsurge in the tempo of rice smuggling. Implementation of the restriction order got off to a smooth start, with a high level of compliance in October 2015.

“However, revenue started dwindling from January 2016, with importers blaming access to forex as major impediments.

“During the five-month period when the importation was allowed, October 2015 to March 17, 2016, a total of 24.992 metric tons of rice valued at N2,335,131,093  were imported through the land borders.”

“During the period, total revenue generated amounted to N1,685,112,810, which is considerably lower than the revenue projected to be generated with the removal of import restrictions.

“However, an upsurge in the number of the seizures has been reported across the land borders since January 2016. ‘’In the first two months of the 2016, a total of 9,238 bags were seized, with Duty Paid Value of   N64,666,000 made by the Customs anti-smuggling patrol teams of   Federal operations and border commands.

The Comptroller-General of Customs noted that his officers and men could not be totally exonerated from the abuse associated with the implementation of the order on rice, saying his office had been inundated with reports of collusion between them and rice importers.

Customs re-imposes ban on rice importation

Get rid of corrupt officers - Buhari tells new Custom Comptroller General

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the new Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Col. Hamid Ali (retd.) to rid the service of corrupt officers.

General Buhari

The PUNCH learnt on Sunday that as part of measures to carry out Buhari’s directive, the CG of Customs had demanded files of top officers of the service.

Investigations showed that the President specifically posted Ali to the NCS because of its poor image on corruption.

It was gathered that Buhari took his anti-graft war to the Customs also because of the dwindling revenues from oil which is the country’s major source of income.

A top officer of the Presidency, who confided in The PUNCH, noted that Customs ranked among the most corrupt government agencies in the country.

A survey by the CLEEN Foundation in collaboration with the McArthur Foundation had in 2013 ranked Customs among corrupt Federal Government agencies.

Other corrupt agencies mentioned in the survey included the Police, Nigeria Immigration Service and the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria.

It was also gathered that Buhari reasoned that for the government to meet its obligations amid short-fall in its revenues, there should be transparency in revenue generating agencies.

The Presidency official, who spoke with The PUNCH, identified the fact that the Federal Government had not met its revenue target in 2015.

For instance, a look at the 2015 budget shows that the government is targeting gross federally collectible revenue of N9.78tn to be shared by the three tiers of government.

The figure, when spread over a 12-month period when the amount is to be generated, translates into monthly revenue of N815bn or N2.44tn per quarter.

But figures obtained from the Federal Ministry of Finance showed that between January and May this year, the country was only able to generate the sum of N1.74tn as gross revenue.

When the actual N1.74tn revenue is compared to the budgeted target of N4.07tn that should have been earned within the five-month period, it translates into a revenue shortfall of 42.5 per cent or N2.3tn.

A breakdown of the actual revenue revealed that the sum of N416.04bn was generated in January, N401.46bn in February while the months of March, April and May had N315.04bn, N282.06bn and N324.96bn respectively.

It was gathered that a mass purge was imminent in the Customs as part of efforts to carry out the President’s directive.

Investigations showed that fear had gripped men and officers of the service, who had been feeding fat on government revenues.

The PUNCH reliably gathered on Friday that the new Comptroller-General had started scrutinising files of top officers of the service and petitions written against some employees.

Investigations revealed that any Customs officers with queries pertaining to proven cases of corruption in his file would be shown the way out.

It was learnt that Ali, in implementing this mandate, was determined to shore up revenues accruable to the Federal Government.

Investigations showed that the new Customs boss would also work on petitions written by members of the public against some officers.

Some of the petitions, it was gathered, dealt with illegal sales of seized goods by officers of the service.

A top officer of the NCS, who confided in The PUNCH, said that there had been complaints about illegal sales of contrabands.

He said that money accruable from sales of goods went to private pockets, adding that they were not gazetted before being sold.

“There are petitions bordering on corruption. The new helmsman has asked for files of all officers. Reorganisation is inevitable in the NIS and those who are corrupt would be shown the way out,” he stated.

It was also gathered that the new comptroller general would look into violations of rules and regulations on clearance of goods as well as false declarations and misapplication of tariffs.

When contacted, the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said that crux of Buhari’s anti-corruption war was that anybody that corruptly enriched himself would be prosecuted.

When asked to explain Buhari’s directives to Ali on corruption, he said, “I will answer your question with a question: should we allow a corrupt officer to continue staying in the system?

“The crux of President Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign is that anyone found to have corruptly enriched himself should be dealt with according to the rules, and the individual must face prosecution. The campaign is only meaningful if officials indicted for corruption are made to face trial.”

Get rid of corrupt officers - Buhari tells new Custom Comptroller General

Traditional rulers in Edo community threaten to invoke gods against impostor

By Simon Ebegbulem

BENIN—Traditional rulers from Ewohimi, in Esan South-East Local Government Area of Edo State, have threatened to invoke the gods of the land against one Osaigbovo Ugbegun who, at a traditional ceremony in the area penultimate week, declared himself as the Enogie (traditional ruler) of the community.

The Onojie of Ewohimi, His Royal Highness, Lord Peter Ojienefoh II, who described Ugbegun’s action as a taboo, said that Ugbegun may be ostracized from the community.

During the Odu festival in Okaegben, Ugbegun was said to have dressed in the full regalia of the Onojie in accordance with Esan custom and tradition and pronounced himself as the traditional ruler, a development the Onojie described as sacrilegious and a taboo in the land.

The monarch, in a petition by his counsel, Mathew Edaghese, urged the people of the community to disregard the action of the said Osaigbovo, threatening that his “client shall invoke his powers under Esan Custom to visit the appropriate sanction on the imposter.

“It has come to our notice that one Osaigbovo Ugbegun of Okaegben Community Ewohimi Kingdom made a sacrilegious pronouncement during the Okaegben community dressed in full royal regalia.”

 

Traditional rulers in Edo community threaten to invoke gods against impostor