Shittu: Planned Customs Modernisation Project May Address Issues of Corruption, Fraudulent Practices at Ports
*Suspects modernisation project may be ‘Five Steps to Cargo Clearance’ recommended by presidential committee under Goodluck administration
By Francis Ugwoke
The proposed Customs Modernisation Project (CMP) by the federal government may be capable of addressing issues of corruption, fraudulent practices at the nation’s ports, the former President of Assocition of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu, has said.
Shittu said though the details of what government wants to introduce are yet to be unfolded, the CMP could be the ‘Five Steps to Cargo Clearance’ process recommended for implementation by the Presidential Committee on Ports Reform during the time of Dr. Mrs Ngozi Okonjo Iweala as Finance Minister under President Goodluck’s administration.
In an interview with SHIPPING DAY, Shittu who is also the Chairman of Skellas Group and one of the members of the Presidential Committee, explained that the ‘Five Steps to Cargo Clearance’ included PAAR in which the Custom Service was supposed to do due diligence on value, quality and quantity by having direct contact with the supplier.
Shittu who expressed concerns over high level of corruption in the ports, said the CMP if likened to the ‘five steps to cargo clearance’ could address the problem.
He said experience has shown that it is difficult to know at what stage one’s compliance level is accpetable in Nigerian ports.
He explained that this was because even when one remains honest and compliant, he would still be subjected to pitfalls or mountains in a deliberate attempt for extortion by government agents in the system.
He said, “We even suggested to them, if Nigerian Immigration Service can have staff in our embassies abroad, why can’t custom have staff in our embassies too.
“Now that five smart steps to cargo clearance is what is trying to be imbibed in the so called modernization of custom.
“The details are not yet out but it could be what we recommended that time where there are people that will check quality, quantity, just like the Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) that was supposed to go with Shippers Council.
“All they need to do is to come together and have a format. Like those days of CRI (Clean Report of Inspectio) if the importer submits his documents, they do inspection there, they do confirmation there, they supervise your loading way to Nigeria, so they determine how much you are going to pay. That is why they want to raise so many billions of dollars and if you are able to pay, just pay and carry your goods. It will be a pleasant thing for me in particular to do a job that way, so that you don’t have this interface here and there.
“If you see the headache we agents get and the effect on health, it is damn too much. That is why I thank God the way He has kept me up till now, that I don’t have depleting illness. That will be a better thing, but we want to see what they want to give us. Because we are yet to know, I want to tell you, all effort to break the ice – even some management staff of customs, they pretend they don’t know what is going on, that it is Ministry of Finance. So we expect our leaders to go to Ministry of Finance, because we are stakeholders, we have things at stake, we are going to implement this, government makes policy, agents implement, and custom enforces. That middle chain, if you remove it, nothing has happened. Then you come back and blame agents again. That may be they know, they just want to play. They are not carrying us along .
“The repetition about the ports situation makes one look stupid. It is only in Nigeria here, you see a problem, there are solutions but they go and try something else first, trying the other side, by the time you come where the solution is, it is either events have overtaken it or the thing has grown beyond the proportion of your intervention. All of us are just repeating what should be done. We all know what should be done, but nothing has been done. I remember during the time of Dr. Mrs Ngozi Okonjo Iweala when she set up the Presidential committee on ports reform, and I was lucky to be there. And what did we do, we ended up (that was the time of Jonathan) submitting the report and recommendation …Five Smart Steps to Cleaning – because then everyone was saying 48hours … The five smart steps also included PAAR – operation that has been ongoing, eventhough that one .. (this PAAR is not the original one that we envisaged, there was supposed to be a final document). Custom was supposed to do due diligence on value, quality and quantity by having direct contact with the supplier. We even suggested to them, if Nigerian Immigration Service can have staff in our embassies abroad, why can’t custom have staff in our embassies too”.
“ By the end of the day, they say PAAR is advisory. So you don’t even know at what stage your compliance level is acceptable. How do you determine somebody is compliant or not, because when you are even compliant, you are a very honest person, am talking of the importer, you don’t want any corner corner, let me just pay my money to the government and go away. You are still subjected to all those pitfalls – all those mountains you need to cross because somebody wants to extort from you”.
It would be recalled that the Federal Executive Council had few months ago ratified $3.1 billion anticipatory approval by President Muhammadu Buhari for the modernisation of the Nigeria Customs Service.
This will be under Public Private Partnership (PPP) in which a 20 years concession is expected.
It was awarded to Messrs E. Customs HC Limited as concessionaire.
This has been criticised by many stakeholders as indirect return of pre-ship inspection and costly duplication of the functionf of the Nigeria Customs Service as well as waste of public funds.
By Francis Ugwoke
The proposed Customs Modernisation Project (CMP) by the federal government may be capable of addressing issues of corruption, fraudulent practices at the nation’s ports, the former President of Assocition of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu, has said.
Shittu said though the details of what government wants to introduce are yet to be unfolded, the CMP could be the ‘Five Steps to Cargo Clearance’ process recommended for implementation by the Presidential Committee on Ports Reform during the time of Dr. Mrs Ngozi Okonjo Iweala as Finance Minister under President Goodluck’s administration.
In an interview with SHIPPING DAY, Shittu who is also the Chairman of Skellas Group and one of the members of the Presidential Committee, explained that the ‘Five Steps to Cargo Clearance’ included PAAR in which the Custom Service was supposed to do due diligence on value, quality and quantity by having direct contact with the supplier.
Shittu who expressed concerns over high level of corruption in the ports, said the CMP if likened to the ‘five steps to cargo clearance’ could address the problem.
He said experience has shown that it is difficult to know at what stage one’s compliance level is accpetable in Nigerian ports.
He explained that this was because even when one remains honest and compliant, he would still be subjected to pitfalls or mountains in a deliberate attempt for extortion by government agents in the system.
He said, “We even suggested to them, if Nigerian Immigration Service can have staff in our embassies abroad, why can’t custom have staff in our embassies too.
“Now that five smart steps to cargo clearance is what is trying to be imbibed in the so called modernization of custom.
“The details are not yet out but it could be what we recommended that time where there are people that will check quality, quantity, just like the Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) that was supposed to go with Shippers Council.
“All they need to do is to come together and have a format. Like those days of CRI (Clean Report of Inspectio) if the importer submits his documents, they do inspection there, they do confirmation there, they supervise your loading way to Nigeria, so they determine how much you are going to pay. That is why they want to raise so many billions of dollars and if you are able to pay, just pay and carry your goods. It will be a pleasant thing for me in particular to do a job that way, so that you don’t have this interface here and there.
“If you see the headache we agents get and the effect on health, it is damn too much. That is why I thank God the way He has kept me up till now, that I don’t have depleting illness. That will be a better thing, but we want to see what they want to give us. Because we are yet to know, I want to tell you, all effort to break the ice – even some management staff of customs, they pretend they don’t know what is going on, that it is Ministry of Finance. So we expect our leaders to go to Ministry of Finance, because we are stakeholders, we have things at stake, we are going to implement this, government makes policy, agents implement, and custom enforces. That middle chain, if you remove it, nothing has happened. Then you come back and blame agents again. That may be they know, they just want to play. They are not carrying us along .
“The repetition about the ports situation makes one look stupid. It is only in Nigeria here, you see a problem, there are solutions but they go and try something else first, trying the other side, by the time you come where the solution is, it is either events have overtaken it or the thing has grown beyond the proportion of your intervention. All of us are just repeating what should be done. We all know what should be done, but nothing has been done. I remember during the time of Dr. Mrs Ngozi Okonjo Iweala when she set up the Presidential committee on ports reform, and I was lucky to be there. And what did we do, we ended up (that was the time of Jonathan) submitting the report and recommendation …Five Smart Steps to Cleaning – because then everyone was saying 48hours … The five smart steps also included PAAR – operation that has been ongoing, eventhough that one .. (this PAAR is not the original one that we envisaged, there was supposed to be a final document). Custom was supposed to do due diligence on value, quality and quantity by having direct contact with the supplier. We even suggested to them, if Nigerian Immigration Service can have staff in our embassies abroad, why can’t custom have staff in our embassies too”.
“ By the end of the day, they say PAAR is advisory. So you don’t even know at what stage your compliance level is acceptable. How do you determine somebody is compliant or not, because when you are even compliant, you are a very honest person, am talking of the importer, you don’t want any corner corner, let me just pay my money to the government and go away. You are still subjected to all those pitfalls – all those mountains you need to cross because somebody wants to extort from you”.
It would be recalled that the Federal Executive Council had few months ago ratified $3.1 billion anticipatory approval by President Muhammadu Buhari for the modernisation of the Nigeria Customs Service.
This will be under Public Private Partnership (PPP) in which a 20 years concession is expected.
It was awarded to Messrs E. Customs HC Limited as concessionaire.
This has been criticised by many stakeholders as indirect return of pre-ship inspection and costly duplication of the functionf of the Nigeria Customs Service as well as waste of public funds.
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