Customs reaffirms commitment to boost trade at Lekki Port

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has reaffirmed commitment to provide the necessary support to Lekki Port to facilitate and boost trade in Nigeria in line with its mandate.

The acting Comptroller General of Customs, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, said this in a statement on Thursday in Lagos.

Adeniyi gave the assurance during his first official visit to the port in Ibeju Lekki.

“We are coming with a shared understanding of what the Nigerian economy needs. We don’t need to look further than the investment we see here. We want to generate foreign exchange.

“We want foreign investment to come to Nigeria so that jobs can be created for our people and we can raise revenue. What we are seeing holds the promise and potential to achieve those objectives.

“As an agency of government, we will continue to be a partner with a shared vision. When we work together on major policy decisions, we will overcome any major issue that may arise,” he said.

Adeniyi described Lekki Port as a catalyst and a game-changer that would contribute to Nigeria’s economic prosperity.

He added that the port would serve as a massive source of revenue for the government, given its capacity to handle large vessels.

In his remarks, the Managing Director of Lekki Port, Du Ruogang, thanked Adeniyi for the visit.

“On behalf of the port promoters, China Harbour and Tolaram, we congratulate you on your appointment, and we wish you great success in your work as Comptroller General of Customs.

“Lekki Port is eager to cooperate with customs to leverage technology and automation for more efficient customs operations,” he said.

Ruogang stated that Lekki Port had all the modern equipment and the features of a global port available in China, Singapore, Malaysia and Tangier.

He added that the cooperation of the Customs was crucial to the port’s success as a very smooth and efficient customs operation was key to attracting customers to the port.

Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of the container terminal operator, Lekki Freeport Terminal, Mr Yann Magarian, said with the commencement of commercial operations at Lekki Freeport Terminal, Nigeria’s position as the maritime hub of West Africa had been restored.

“In the few months of operations, we have achieved significant milestones at the Lekki Freeport terminal. These include increased productivity at Nigerian Ports using our state-of-the-art super post-Panamax cranes.

“This has allowed us to reduce operational hours on vessels while at berth; commissioning two of the fastest scanning machines in the country, which allows the scanning of containers in less than one minute and the commencement of transhipment services in Nigeria.

“This is the first of its kind. We are progressively returning container trade lost to neighbouring West African ports,” he said.

Our correspondent reports that Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Ltd. (LPLEL) is the Special Purpose Vehicle that was awarded the Concession Agreement for the development and operations of the Lekki Deep Sea Port by the Nigerian Ports Authority.

LPLEL is required to develop, build and operate a common user multipurpose port.