President of the Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON), Otunba Frank Ogunojemite, has expressed concerns about corruption and bottlenecks that may arise from the planned merging of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), and the Federal Inland Revenue Service into the Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS).
President Bola Tinubu’s Policy Advisory Council proposed the merger of customs, NIMSAA, and FIRS into the Nigerian Revenue Service.
According to the council, this merger would enable an efficient collection of all direct and indirect taxes, as well as levies on behalf of the Federal Government.
Reacting to the proposed merger, Ogunojemite warned of potential administrative crisis should the government go ahead to implement the merger, and the negative impact it would have on the ease of doing business in the country.
According to him, the merger of the three government agencies may encourage corruption and create unnecessary bottlenecks in the system.
Ogunojemite emphasized that the merger could impede ease of doing business and have negative implications for the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) and the single window policy of the Nigeria Customs.
He advised the federal government to assemble a team of experts to thoroughly analyze the economic policies and their potential benefits for the country before implementation.
He urged the committee to seek stakeholders’ input and consider the 2019 International Monetary Fund (IMF) report on the economy and Nigerian ports reforms.
