Leadership (Abuja)
Enyeribe Anyanwu
9 February 2010
Lagos — The Nigeria Customs Service has so far recovered the sum N6.87 billion as underpayments since it began a clampdown on customs duty evaders and fraudulent dealers in the import clearance process last year.
The recovery was made through over 627 Debit Notes (DNs) raised by the Custom Duty Investigation Team (CDIT) against fraudulent importers among whom are high profile importers in the country and multinational oil companies.
The CDIT was set up last year by the Comptroller-General, Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko Inde, to among other things, recover all monies due to the Federal Government as duty payment, which had been pocketed by fraudulent importers and their agents, plug all loopholes in the import duty payment process, reposition the Customs Service for efficient and effective service delivery and facilitate the optimal realisation of the Service's revenue target.
The team was also mandated to bring the perpetrators of these fraudulent acts to book, help in providing ready data for risk profiling as well as to clear customs' name from implied negligence.
Confirming the recovery in a press statement made available to LEADERSHIP, the investigation team said it discovered cases of ridiculous and inexplicable value differences between the Risk Assessment Reports (RARs) and the actual transactions made as well as outright abandonment of RARs in order to avoid duty payment.
"The recovery is the outcome of measures by the team following the discovery of ridiculous and unexplained value differences between the Risk Assessment Reports and transactions and outright abandonment of RARs by importers without payment of due duties," the team stated.
In its efforts to enforce duty payment and to ensure collection of all revenue due to government, the team said it has also beamed its searchlight on bond beneficiaries who have been ignoring their obligations to pay duties when due. According to the investigation team, such bond beneficiaries are now being made to live up to their obligations.
Similarly, it said designated banks now comply with requests to make monthly remittances for the purpose of duty reconciliation.
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