Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Retired Colonel Hameed Ali, says the service has proposed N900 billion as revenue target for 2017.

Ali told newsmen on the sidelines of the International Customs Day celebration with the theme “Data Analysis for Effective Border Management” at Customs Staff College, Gwagwalada, on Thursday in Abuja.

He said the target was self-proposed, adding that the service had not been given revenue target by the Federal Government for 2017.

The customs boss said the service had a revenue target of N937 billion in 2016 but was able to achieve N898 billion “so we were a little bit short.

Commenting on the ban on importation of cars through land borders, Ali said the service had so far achieved a lot, adding that “I think it is coming up well.

Ali said the NCS was joining its global customs community to bring to national discourse, the crucial importance of data as key element in customs modernisation, saying automated customs process was fast turning the service into dependable data-bank for national planning.

He explained that apart from providing platform for synergy among security agencies in the country, the data generated and analysed from NCS ICT platform would also
help to measure performance and improve practice and integrity of the process.

The Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System (NICIS) reporting module and the Integrated Reporting Information System (IRIS) enables the service and other security and regulatory agencies to generate reports which will help in decisions regarding trade and fiscal policies, he said.

Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, commended the efforts of the NCS boss in the fight against corruption.