Customs boss, Ali reiterates resolve on N944bn revenue target

The Customs Comptroller-General, retired  colonel, Hameed Ali, has said the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) would meet its N944 billion revenue target by December 2015, warning officers to shun corruption of face the law.
 Ali, who spoke to the media on his second day tour, said he was upbeat on meeting the target. He said the riot act was to curb corrupt practice and block leakages.
  “The fact is that we are behind what we are supposed to realise, but we are hopeful that this is our ember months – October, November and December. I believe when the October returns come in, we will expect rise in what we have been able to gather.
  “We are hopeful that November will bring some good tidings and also by December we should be able to round off to meet our target, which is N944bn”, Ali said.
 Addressing Customs officers of the FCT Command on Wednesday in Abuja, Ali urged them to shun corrupt practices, just as he assured them that issues of poor remuneration would be resolved with improved revenue.
 “If you are caught engaging in any act of corruption, such officer will be made to go through the law.  There would be no excuse for corruption,” Ali warned the officers.
 Admitting that men and officers of the Service earn poor remunerations, the Customs chief said, “I am not satisfied with what I discovered to be your remuneration given the present living condition, but if you chose to take the short cut  by corruptly enriching yourselves ,there is always a consequence for that.”
 “We can’t improve revenue generation if these leakages persist. So revenue has to improve, discipline stepped up, corruption eliminated, then I can have the moral courage to face Mr. President. So give us the opportunity by abiding with all these so that I can meet him for improved welfare on your behalf,” he assured the officers.
 Other agencies Ali had visited are the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), National Copyright Commission, National Environment Standards and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA) and the Nigeria Prisons Service.