Reps to investigate Terminal Operators, says they are hampering revenue generation

The House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excuse is planning an investigation into the activities of terminal operators operating in the nation’s ports.

The Committee said it was unfortunate that rather than enhance revenue generation efforts of the government, terminal operators at the nation’s port were rather hampering revenue generation at the port.

Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Leke Abejide disclosed this while addressing customs officers and stakeholders at the Apapa command of the Nigeria Customs Service as part of the oversight visit to Customs formations under the Zone A of the Nigeria Customs Service.

Abejide said the operators were not living to the tenets of the concession agreement they entered with the Nigerian government.

He frown at the long delays by the terminal operators in the clearance of goods by Customs agents, forcing them to pay heavy demurrage which he said does not benefit the government,

According to him, the terminal operators have become the biggest problems facing the Nigerian Customs Service evrn though they are supposed to collaborate with them to facilitate easy clearance of goods.

He said some of the big shipping companies operating in the country and terminal operators behave like demi gods, doing whatever pleases them at the expense of Nigerians, adding that the time has come when something drastic need to be done to address the situation.

He said “stakeholders in the business are losing a lot of money due to delays that is not occasioned by them or the Customs Service. The painful aspect is that these operators are not losing anything. It is these stakeholders tuat are losing.

“The demurrage that accumulate abe has to be paid is not going to the government. It is going to terminal operators and we will invite them to the National Assembly so that we can address this situation once and for all.”

Responding to series of complain against APMT, one of the Terminal operators, Abejide said “APMT is not here to help Nigeria. They are actually here to kill this country.

“The electronic call up system is a fraud because it is not helping our economy. We can no longer condone this and so, we must do something about it”.

Abejide said the committee will investigate the concession arrangements with APMT which he said is supposed to expire any moment with a view to looking for credible Nigerians to take over the operation or the terminal.

He also explained that the implementation of the 4 percent Free On Board collection by the service was suspended to allow for further stakeholders engagement and enlightenment before the full take off.

He said it was observed that some officials implementing the FOB were still collecting other charges which the Customs and Excise Act has outlawed, thereby creating mixed feeling about the implementation.

He said the 4 percent FOB will return after the enlightenment as it was aimed to benefit the service and it’s stakeholders, saying “with waiver, the Customs is losing so much money. But with the FOB, the big companies who run away with our money will no longer be able to do that”.

Meanwhile both the Apapa ans Tin Can Command assured the House Committee that they are working to surpass the 2025 revenue target given to them by the federal government

While the Apapa Command said it generated about N753. 8 billion in the first three months of the year, the Tin Can command said it has generated about N347.9 billion within the same period.

In his address at the Tin Can Island Command, the Coordinator, Zone A Command, ACG Charles Orbih stated that, the Zone remains the bedrock of the NCS revenue generation in the country as it generated 79.18% of the total N6.107 trillion total collection in 2024.

He said, ” The Apapa Tin Can Island Port Commands stood out as the highest contributors among all Customs formations nationwide.

“What is even more encouraging is that we have not rested on our laurels.Our revenue profile profile from January till date indicates that we are well on track to Surpass lasylt years record. This remarkable achievements is a testament to the dedication of our officers and men, who work tirelessly sometimes in challenging conditions, to ensure that government revenues are collected efficiently”.

On his part, the Customs Area Comptroller, Frank Onyeka stated that, the revenue collected by the Command was N1.256 trillion representing 88.88% of the N1.413 trillion target given to the Command in the year 2024.

He said, “For 2024, I am delighted to announce to you that, the Command has a total sum of N347,935,672,475.50 in the period covering January to March. This figure represents a significant increase when compared to the same period in 2024, where we recorded N303,791,379,473.67 marking an improvement of over N44 billion, and an approximately 14.54% increase.

“The first quarter collection also represents 91.2% of the total revenue target expected in the first quarter of 2025 which is given as N381,167,499,869.64 as well as 22.81 of the annual revenue target of N1.524,669,999,478.52”.

Similarly, the Comptroller, Apapa Area Command, Babatunde Olomu stated that, the Command has been at the forefront of revenue generation contributing more than 50% of the total revenue collection of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

He said, “We are optimistic about surpassing last year’s total collection as evident in our first quarter report. It is noteworthy to note that, this Command achieved a daily record breaking revenue collection of of N18.9bn on Friday, March 14, 2025, which stands out as the highest in the 135 year history of the service”.

At the PTML Command, the Customs Area Comtroller, Tenny Daniyan said the command generated N88. 209 billion between January and March 2025.