By Joe Adumaza Sanni
Customs administrations duties worldwide, as guaranteed by the conventions of the World Customs Organization (WCO) is defined thus: Customs administrations have a multifaceted role, encompassing taxation, security, and trade facilitation, including collecting duties and taxes, preventing illegal trade, and ensuring compliance with regulations.
Nigeria is a signatory to those conventions with 186 member-states of about 196 countries worldwide.
Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is populated by Nigerians, employed therein to perform specific/technical and general duties in support of Nigeria’s economy and Nigerians well-being.
Very large resources have been committed into the building of the personnel and structures of NCS.
All their expertise, particularly in anti-smuggling and revenue collection cannot be wished away, simply because of our silence/ignorance, in the face of glaring contradictions in legislations tailored toward getting more money for government activities supposedly.
Experiences in the past, since the coming into existence of NCS in 1891, shows that any obstructions/distortions in the proper functioning of NCS has never worked and will not work this time around.
The PIDA (Professional Import Duty Administrators) in 1994 experience was one that backfired heavily on government of the day. So also, was the tenure of a retired soldier as the head of Customs administration between 2015 and 2023 was not just a misnomer. To say the least, the move dampened the enthusiasm of career personnel.
That is why this clarion call to our esteemed distinguished Senators and Honourable members of Nigeria’s legislature, not to set the progressive hand of NCS clock backwards, by passing the NRS, JRB and NTA Bills 2024 as is, without removing those sections/clauses therein, that is in conflict with the mandate of NCS, and that is likely to legislate NCS out of existence or irrelevance.
Our NASS members must take a deeper, retrospective look, comparatively speaking, into the implications of either unintentionally legislating NCS out of existence or into redundancy; or carefully remove those sections that offends/duplicates NCS Act 2023, except their (Executive Branch’s) intention is to repeal the NCS Act 2023 and then commence the dismantling of the structures of NCS, and remove NCS as a member of World Customs Organization (WCO).
That, I believe, can never be the intention of the Nigerian Tax Reforms Bills 2024.
The Nigeria Customs Service has been improving in its activities against smuggling – detecting by intelligence and arresting smugglers in their tracks, and depriving them from bringing weapons of mass destruction into the Nigerian space, or stop chronic, unapologetic, insensitive drug barons/peddlers from further wasting the lives of our youths, in the face of rising, seemingly uncheck unemployment rates.
Similarly, NCS has been improving in its revenue collection by the day, since the appointment of the Comptroller General of Customs – Alhaji Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR on the 19th of June 2023, and has continually been blocking areas of revenue leakages.
These efforts must not be sacrificed on the altar of unnecessary duplications of legislations.
If by error of omission or commission the bills are allowed to scale through without amendments, then Nigeria must be prepared for the unimaginable crisis of confidence/loss of faith in the system, as witnessed in the civil service from 1974 till date.
Nigerians must learn to keep, grow and sustain its performing institutions, especially those responsible for generating and collecting our common-pool revenues. Above all, NCS must not stand with hands akimbo and watch its establishment being decimated or “go-up-in-flames”, without activating powerful lobby groups, and at the same time mounting campaigns via proxies, to dissuade our legislators, from voice-voting for something that is likely to aggravate Nigerians’ sufferings in Nigeria today.
Why NASS Must Reject Provisions of NRS, JRB and NTA Bills 2024 that is contradicting or Duplicating the Mandates of NCS
Why NASS Must Reject Provisions of NRS, JRB and NTA Bills 2024 that is contradicting or Duplicating the Mandates of NCS
| S/NO | SECTIONS OF TAX BILLS 2024 IN CONTENTION | SECTIONS OF NCSACT 2023 BEING CONTRAVENED | REMARKS |
| 1 | Section 1 of the NRS establishment bill | Sections 3 & 4 of the NCS Act 2023 | The NCS Act 2023 is already operational |
| 2 | Section 4 of the NRS Bill, Subsection 1, (a, b, e, I, m) and Subsection 3. | Section 4 of the Customs Act 2023 | These are purely technical functions of NCS |
| 3 | Section 42 of the NRS Bill | Section 4 of the Customs Act 2023 | NCS is more equipped presently to continue with its operations |
| 4 | Sections 40, Sub 1 of the Joint Revenue Board (JRB) Bill | Section 4 of the Customs Act 2023 | Structures will only start when Bill is unfortunately passed |
| 5 | Sections 78, 79 of the Nigeria Tax Administration (NTA) Bill 2024 | Part IX, Sections 67-82 | How will all these technical duties be performed? |
| 6 | Section 141 (1) of the NTA Bill | Section 4 of the Customs Act 2023 | Which Agency takes precedence? |
| 7 | Section 143 of the NTA Bill states | Section 24 of NCS Act 2023 | This clearly a WCO TF Tool |
My Passionate Appeal to Our Esteemed Lawmakers is to be Circumspect about the Provisions Conflicting with Duties of Nigeria Customs Service as Captured in the Act Establishing It
We must not, out of whatever reason, mistakenly decree more hardships, justify unquantifiable wastage of already invested resources, balloon the already staggering unemployment figures by throwing skilled and technical manpower into the labor market.
*Joe Adumaza Sanni, a Customs Broker and Member, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) writes from Lagos.
