Yusuf hands over to Mohammed Auwal
The new Controller, Apapa Command, Nigeria Customs Service, Comptroller Mohammed Auwal has declared that due diligence shall be given preference at all times in cargo clearance as all containers landing and leaving Apapa Port shall be subjected to 100% examination.
Auwal said his administration shall continually engage and ensure that importers, customs agents and freight forwarders comply with all the extant import guidelines.
Auwal, who stated this while taking over the leadership of the Command from Assistant Comptroller-General Malanta Yusuf, said he is ready for the job and would work to sustain and surpass the N1.5 trillion revenue profile of his predecessor.
“I am delighted to be here with you. We know that the Federal Government relying on officers in the Command to collect and generate revenues and stop and suppress smuggling. I am ready for the job and will sustain the tempo and improve on the level of achievements of my predecessor. We shall do our best.
“I want to urge all our Releasing Officers to ensure that no containers leave the port without undergoing 100% examination. Officers should exhibit high level of integrity in cargo releasing, so as to avoid release of cargo in error,” Auwal said, calling on all the command’s staff not to relent on their efforts and extend their cooperation to him just as they did to ACG Malanta Yusuf.
To customs agents and freight forwarders and other stakeholders, the new Controller advised them to always declare their cargo correctly. “There won’t be delay once cargo is declared correctly. I am not going to entertain non-compliant traders. To avoid delay, I am urging you to make proper declaration,” said he.
Speaking while handing over, the former Controller, Assistant Comptroller-General Yusuf, described Auwal as a man of due diligence. “Comptroller Mohammed Auwal is a diligent officer who upholds due process always. We are now in the era of due process. I know you can do better than we have done,” said Yusuf, who took time to mention the successes attained during his 23 months in the saddle.
Yusuf, who is now in charge of Modernization at the Customs headquarters in Abuja, said correct declaration is key, saying “without correct declaration N1.5 trillion collected in 2022 would not have been attained.”
Dedicating this and other successes achieved to officers and men of the Command, ACG Yusuf urged the new Controller to continue with the ongoing remodeling of the Command offices.
The highlight of the handing over was the presentation of Certificates of Honour of the Service to the Public Relations Officer of the Command Abubakar Usman and a few other officers who diligently excelled in their work.
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