The Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government Owned Companies (SSASCGOC), maritime branch has advocated that Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) remits at least 2 percent of its total annual revenue from the nations ports to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) as port infrastructure development levy.
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) affiliate group disclosed this recently during the National Central Working Committee (NCWC) retreat held in Kwara State.
President of SSASCGOC, maritime branch, Comrade Akinola Bodunde, reiterated that revenue generated by the service running into trillions of naira bears no significance in port development.
According to him, the NPA provides accommodation to the Service despite the huge revenue generation.
Comrade Bodunde explained that the pressure and burden on NPA for ports development was huge, yet some other agencies of government make humongous revenue without contributing to existing port infrastructure upgrade.
He stated that the 2 percent remittance by Customs for port development would go a long way in ensuring port efficiency and repairs of some decayed infrastructure.
According to Comrade Bodunde, “On a monthly basis, we hear the Customs declaring that they generate hundareds of billions to the federal government coffers. Sometimes they tell the public how they collect revenue in trillion on a quarterly or yearly basis but the ports that gave them these platforms to generate such revenue are not considered for maintenance purposes.
“I will suggest that a percentage should be given to the ports by the Customs for infrastructure development.
“We are calling on the government to look inward for Customs to give at least 2% of its total annual revenue to support NPA for port development.
According to him, NPA collects revenue for services rendered at the seaports but maintained that most of the infrastructure at Customs disposal were provided by management of NPA, hence there was need for the service to contribute to ports development financially.
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While speaking on the motive behind the 3-day retreat, the union leader said the purpose was to evaluate members performance in the last one year, stressing that members of SSASCGOC maritime branch always assessed themselves before the year ends.
He added that the retreat also gave them the opportunity to project and plan for a better new year in their individual and collective performances as a union .
“The retreat is not a jamboree but an avenue where we sit down, talk and discuss the way forward on how we can improve ports efficiency, individual productivity at work place so as to benefit the workers and union respectively “, the union leader added.
He expressed optimism that 2024 was a combination of mixed feelings for workers, even as he commended management of NPA for a friendly working relationship with the union.
