President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the partial closure of Nigeria’s borders with Benin and Lake Chad was effective in curbing smuggling activities that is threatening the country’s attempt to boost its local production, especially of rice, taking place in that corridor.
President Muhammadu Buhari made this known today while speaking at the commissioning of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Corporate Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that the closure of the over 1,600km borders from Chad to Benin was pertinent at the time when smuggling activities was heightened and threatening the self-sufficiency already attained with his administration agricultural polices
He added that the border closure yielded tremendously in curbing rice smuggling activies, encouraging local production and also saved the country huge sum of money that would be otherwise be expended on importation.
The Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning and the chairman of the Nigeria Customs Service Board, Zainab Ahmed noted that the new corperate Headquarters is significant to more effecient and robust service delivery, urging the officers of the service to leverage on the equipment, modern structure and technology of the newly commissioned Headquarters to achieve the founding mandate of the service.
Also speaking, Comptroller-General of Customs, Hameed Ali while giving his remarks, appreciated president Muhammadu Buhari firm support to the completion of corperate Headquarters and also signing the customs bill into law.
He however, restated the commitments of the officers of the service to delivering on its mandate with utmost professionalism, integrity and efficiency.
The 19.6b worths Corperate Headquarters consists of 12 floors main building, Power House, Car Park, Mosque, Chapel and a penthouse. Also included in the Tower, is the Head Office; Main Auditorium with a seating capacity of about 150 – 200 persons. Each of the lower-level floors also has a meeting/conference room and a training hall for staff training and development.
