… Promise to Prioritize Officers’ Welfare
By Bon Peters
House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise has scored the Customs Area Controller, Customs Area 11, Onne Port Command, Comptroller Mohammed Babandede, and his officers and men high on revenue generation, anti smuggling and trade facilitation.
This commendation was made in Port Harcourt the Rivers State capital during a two day oversight working visit of the committee to Customs Zone C.
The committee had embarked on a two day working visit to Customs Zone C, headquarters Port Harcourt to brainstorm with the various Controllers of all the Commands, officers and men of the Nigeria Customs Service and other critical stakeholders in the zone on their achievements and challenges among others.
Speaking to journalists, Chairman of the committee, Hon. Leke Abejide said the committee is satisfied with what they have seen at Onne.
He went further to posit that they have been to Customs Zone C headquarters Port Harcourt for two days, and have scrutinized 9 commands.
“We singled out Onne because after Apapa and Tin Can, Onne Customs command is the biggest, so we decided to take our time to scrutinize it,so that we can actually know what is going on here.
“But so far, so good. Despite some challenges they are still struggling to meet up targets”, Hon Abejide said.
Continuing, he posited “We are satisfied with what we saw because despite the challenges they are facing, such as lack of accommodation, operational vehicles and lack of adequate scanners, to do their work diligently, they are surpassing their yearly revenue target.
“In short I will give Comptroller Babandede 99 % if I were to score him. You saw how he was applauded by other members of my team.” He quarried?
“Comptroller Mohammed Babandede has surpassed the first quarter revenue target and I know at the end of the year, the Command will definitely surpass the 2025 revenue target.
“On anti smuggling, I am very satisfied with him because of the numbers of Seizures he has made so far.”
The seizures he said were a large cache of arms and munitions and some unwholesome drugs which could have posed greater danger to society and the general public if not intercepted.
He reiterated, “remember the Comptroller General of Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR was here personally to receive the seizures and handed them over to the appropriate quarters.
“We have taken note of the challenges at Onne, we are yet to pass their 2025 budget.
“I hope you saw me writing them down myself and when we get back, I will develop it, sit down one on one and discuss with the CGC, most of these challenges would be incorporated in their budget, the one we will solve by budgeting we do, the one that would be solved through plenary we do also.
“Hence, their welfare would be of our utmost priority” he insisted.
On the House of Representatives visit to Onne Rivers state, Customs Zone C, Zonal Coordinator, SK Dangaladima, expressed satisfaction with their visit saying
“They have seen what is on ground and they will put every effort to solve the problems of our officers and men of this Command especially lack of accommodation, operational vehicles and the issue of more scanners.
“As you can see, those officers that have done well have been promoted.”
He emphasized that Customs has a reward system, “if you perform well, you will be rewarded but if you don’t, you will be punished also” AGC Dangaladima said.
On the relationship with the House Representative committee and the zone C Customs headquarters, he described it as cordial even as he applauded the Hon Abejide led committee saying the chairman was well grounded in Customs activities and according to him, he was optimistic that with their coming some of the problems militating against the smooth operations of the Command would be resolved.
Comptroller Babandede who has earlier stated that, Onne Area 11 customs Command has intercepted 20 containers laden with Illicit drugs worth over N10B, and also raked in over N190 billion naira in the first quarter of 2025 added the 2025 revenue generation was 17.12% higher than that of 2024. He promised that the Onne Customs command would surpass its 2025 revenue generation.
He added, “the committee members are here to see our challenges and what is on ground, like the absence of adequate scanners for our operations.”
“We have only one scanner but need more to help us efficiently perform our duty.
“We are surpassing our target, our monthly target is N58 Billion but we are making between N60 and N66B monthly.”
Banbande disclosed that 8 of his officers and men whose intelligence led to the interception of those seized items have been given special promotions by the Comptroller General of Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR as a reward mechanism.
The event featured a question and answer section and was attended by some critical stakeholders in the maritime industry including Terminal Operators, ANLCA, NAGAFF, APFFLON and operators of Bonded Terminals in the zone among others. And the committee however, took time to inspect the only functional Scanner at WACT terminal.
