The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise, Rep Leke Abejide has disclosed that the Nigeria Customs University, Badagry, Lagos state would take off before the end of the current administration
Rep Abejide who stated this when he led members of the Committee on oversight to Customs formations in the FCT also hinted that the 11-storey corporate headquarters of the Service commissioned in 2023 by former President Buhari will soon be put into use.
He assured that the committee was ready to give the service every budgetary support to upgrade the Customs Command and Staff College to international standard.
Abejide added that the Customs would be commissioned by the President before the end of his first tenure.
The Customs Command and Staff College located in the Gwagwalada area of the FCT is designated as a Customs regional training centre for West and Central Africa by the World Customs Organisation, but the management of the college which also serves as Training and Doctrine Command for the service said the facilities are not enough to meet up the requirement.
Abejide said that the House was prepared to assist the service in achieving their set target, adding that the new Customs Act passed by the 9th Assembly was strengthened the operations of the Customs, while promoting career progression in the service.
He said with the new Customs Act, every officer in the service can now aspire to the position of Comptroller General as the law now make compulsory for the head of the service to be appointed from among career officers unlike it was in the past.
He commended the efforts put into the construction and finishing of the headquarters of the service, but said that some modifications still need to be carried out on the facility before it is put into use.
According to him, “the level of work is impressive, especially on the last floor. The only area of concern we have is on the outer part where there are little corrections. I reached put to the Comptroller General and he told me that in the next three months, they will start using the facility”.
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Speaking on the FCT Command of the service in terms of revenue generation, Abejide said even though the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport which is the major operational area of the service in the FCT is mainly used by diplomats who are not expected to pay duties on their import, the service was able to generate about N6 billion so far.
He also commended the service for what he called correct corporate social responsibility in the area of service at the Customs Hospital, Karu which he described as the best paramilitary hospital in the country.
According to him, “we should give kudos to Customs because they are doing very well. Even though I have not been to hospitals managed by other military and paramilitary agencies, I believe that they have the best hospital. In term of cost, they are doing what I called correct Corporate Social Responsibility because where they are supposed to collect N100,000 as fees, they collect N10, 000 and the hospital is so neat”.
Receiving the Committee on behalf of the Comptroller General, the Deputy Comptroller General in charge of the Customs Training and Doctrine Command, DCG BS Bomai appeal to the Committee to fast-track the process of establishing the Customs University to offer specialized training for officers and men of the service.
Bomai said other Customs formations across the country have specialized universities for the training of their officers and other stakeholders within the Customs and Excise community.
He also sought the support of the committee in completing the Customs hostel to facilitate accommodation for students within the college.
Commandant of the Customs Command and Staff College, ACG Kingsley Egu said the college was established in 2011 by the former Comptroller General, Dikko Inde and patterned along side the Armed Forces Command and Staff College in Jaji.
During the oversight visit, the Committee was informed that the Customs hanger has been registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission as a limited liability company, adding that it is making efforts to retrieve its revenue that went into the Treasury Single Account for its operation.
The Committee was also informed that two organisations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Medecins Sans Frontieres pay about six thousand, five hundred dollars each to the service every month for packing their aircrafts while Dornier Aviation pays N10 million annually for the same purpose.
