The Nigeria Customs Services has allegedly sold about 6,000 impounded vehicles and other items to selected firms and individuals, The PUNCH has learnt.

The auction of the vehicles, it was gathered, was done without open competitive bidding, contrary to the Bureau of Public Procurement Act, 2007.

The vehicles were allegedly branded as scraps and sold at giveaway prices through direct auction allocation.

Regarding the disposal of public property, section 55 (3) (5) of the BPP Act stipulates, ‘’The open competitive bidding shall be the primary source of receiving offers for the purchase of any public property offered for sale.

“For the purposes of this Act, public property is defined as resources in the form of tangible and non-tangible assets (ranging from serviceable to the unserviceable).’’

Reliable sources told our correspondent that the NCS had been selling impounded goods and contrabands without following the stipulated procedures.

Instead of selling the confiscated goods through public auctions as mandated by the law, it was learnt that the service had been carrying out what it called direct auction allocation of vehicles, machinery, equipment, electronics, clothing materials, foodstuffs and other contrabands to selected dealers.

A source said, “So far, about 6,000 vehicles have been sold to their cronies through the so-called direct auction allocation. The vehicles, which could have fetched the government huge revenue, were sold as scraps at giveaway prices.

“We all know that it is a ploy to enrich their favoured contractors at the expense of the government. The government is being denied the revenue it would have realised from open competitive auctions. If this government is serious, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Hameed Ali should be answering tough questions from either the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission or the National Assembly by now.’’

The PUNCH could not confirm the claims that 6,000 vehicles were sold but a letter from the NCS to a company, AMEX West Africa Limited and dated March 25, 2022, indicated that 338 vehicles were sold for N3,380,000 through direct auction allocation by the Nigeria Customs Services’ Committee on Direct Disposal of Condemned Scrap Vehicles and other Items in Abuja.

The letter, with reference number: NCS/ADM/MGT/012/S.2/C, signed by the Chairman, Direct Disposal of Scraps Committee, Comptroller A.D Sanusi, was titled, ‘Direct auction allocation of scrap vehicles and other items.’

It read, ‘’I am directed to inform you that the Comptroller-General of Customs, acting on the provisions of Customs and Exercise Management (Disposal of goods) Act, CAP C46, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, hereby allocates the under-listed 338 lots of various scrap vehicles domiciled at Katsina State Area Command to your company as auction sales for the purpose of disposal, smelting and fabrication into raw materials for production valued at N3,380,000 only.

“All vehicles disposed of must be evacuated from the premises within 10 working days after payment or risk forfeiture. Furthermore, you are to note the following: Application for replacement of allocated vehicles would not be entertained. All allocation letters transferred or sold by the allottee to a third party shall be at the buyer’s risk.’’

Another letter from the committee dated September 5, 2022, similarly allocated 53 vehicles to Nak Metal Steel Limited at a cost of N530,000.

Also, Gamchaka & Sons Nigeria Limited, was allocated two Toyota Camry and Mazda 626 cars at N120,000.

The section cited by the NCS to justify the sale read in part, ‘“For the purposes of this Act, the Director (CG) shall generally have the power to sell or otherwise dispose of any goods forfeited pursuant to Section 1 of this section, and shall, in particular, be concerned with the functions;

“of determining the best method of sale or disposal of the goods; and where the goods are to be sold;

“of ensuring that such reasonable prices as may be determined by the Director are obtained in the course of such sale or disposal, and of appointing through tender (where necessary) any person or agent to buy or conduct the sale or disposal of the goods; and

‘’of ensuring that the goods shall not under any circumstances be sold or otherwise disposed of to any importer to whom the goods are or have been consigned or to any person, firm or agent connected therewith.’’

Further investigations indicate that 15 other companies also benefitted from the NCS’ alleged bazaar. They were allocated 45 cars altogether.

A firm, Jelverson Oil & Gas Nigeria Limited, was allocated a Fiat Ducato for N80,000, Honda Accord (N30,000) and Volkswagen (N30,000), all located in Kano.

The NCS similarly sold a Mitsubishi Canter truck valued at N100,000; Toyota bus (N60,000) and Volkswagen Golf car (N20,000) to A1 Business Ltd., Abuja shopping complex, Garki Area 3.

Garbadau Global Services equally benefited from the exercise as it was allocated three Hijet pick-up vans parked in Kano at a cost of N150,000.

Three vehicles-Peugeot J5 bus valued at N80,000; V/W Golf car (N30,000) and Honda Accord (N30,000) were allocated to Team Option Services Ltd., while Kusfa Nigeria Ltd., got two V/W Golf cars (#60,000) and J5 bus (N70,000).


They were directed to pay into the Customs account numbers, 3000008059 and 3000008327 domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria.

But the Nigeria Association of Auctioneers has kicked against the unilateral disposal of forfeited goods by the NCS, insisting that it is illegal.

The NAA President, Alhaji Musa Kurra, alleged that the Nigeria Customs Service had been carrying out illegal sales of seized goods without involving auctioneers.

He queried the direct auction allocation system being used to dispose of the forfeited goods, arguing that there was nothing like that in the BPP Act guiding the disposal of public assets.

‘’He (CG) has been giving (allocation) papers to selected people; we have seen many of those papers and he said he would not use auctioneers. He is not elected but appointed; the president can wake up and ask him to go if he is not doing the right thing; and as far as I’m concerned, he is not doing the right thing,’’ he submitted.

The NAA President criticised the delay in auctioning forfeited items, which he said were losing their value.

He stated, “We all know that the government needs funds badly to execute some of the major projects they have started but many forfeited properties are wasting away.’’

Customs’ auctioning portal

Reacting however, the spokesperson for the NCS, Timi Bomodi, told our correspondent that the agency had always auctioned vehicles through a portal on its website, insisting that the agency followed due process in all its activities.

Asked why the Customs made direct auction to some selected car dealers recently, Bomodi replied, “Publish what you have, at least the people (dealers) are not faceless individuals, they will come and say, ‘yes, we bought cars from Customs.’

“If we say we have a portal for the auctioning of vehicles and somebody says about 6,000 cars were auctioned to dealers, it is better they publish it and we are made to know; embarrass us with the facts so that we know how to take action.

“There is a portal for auctioning of vehicles and we’ve been doing it. It is not just starting today. It is official, just go to our website and you will see the auctions there, including all the cars that they auctioned there. It is not a secret.”

Meanwhile, when the Bureau of Public Procurement was contacted for a reaction on the matter, its spokesperson, Janet McDickson, requested that a formal letter be written to the BPP, explaining the issue.

“Sorry I could not pick up the calls. You can please explain and write formally to the office,” she stated.

The NCS has been auctioning vehicles publicly through its website, for instance in July this year, it reportedly confirmed plan to auction 7,000 uncleared vehicles.

It was reported that thousands of imported vehicles, which were not cleared, in Lagos State might be auctioned by the agency, if the owners failed to comply with the recently introduced Vehicle Identification Number valuation policy.

The NCS Area Comptroller of Ports Terminal Multiservices Limited, Festus Okun, had reportedly put the number of the vehicles manufactured before 2013 that could be auctioned at 7,000, though some importers argued that the figure was higher.

Also, the NCS Public Relations Officer, Tin-Can Island Port, Uche Ejesieme, had reportedly stated that the vehicles would be moved from the ports and bonded terminals to the government warehouse in Ikorodu for auctioning.

This, according to him, would happen if the importers of the vehicles failed to pay the right duties as required by the VIN after 90 days.

He had explained that the movement of the vehicles would begin once the terminal operators generated Uncleared Cargo Lists to enable the NCS to declare the overtime cargoes.

Ejesieme also stated that the service needed space inside the ports to facilitate legitimate business.

He had told a newspaper that so many factors were responsible for the huge number of vehicles inside the ports, as it was not just about the VIN.

He stated that some of the importers might be having issues with their banks and others might be having domestic challenges, “but our prayer is that they should get the money to come and clear their vehicles.”

The Customs official stated that the agency needed the space inside the port to transact legitimate business, adding that the terminal operators had yet to give the NCS the uncleared cargo lists at the time.

The list, according to Ejesieme, would tell the exact number of vehicles inside the port as he emphasised that the vehicles were many.

Source: https://punchng.com/Customs-sell-impounded-vehicles-as-scraps-auctioneers-kick

Corruption is the bane of this country. This nepotic auctioning is enough for a sane government to remove this incapable Ali, the custom boss. We all saw what Lagos did with forfeited vehicles last week and the amount generated from each.

This is corruption at its dirtiest. Thieves everywhere in government.

An internal arrangement......

The custom today is run by Atiku and his boys. Atiku is the biggest importer of generators. He owns that business. He was the former boss of customs. All these in operation today are his boys. These people hold our nation to a standstill. Everyone has put in loyalists in place to serve their personal interests. Mind you, these boys in charge of all these ministries have family relations with either the president, or an Emir or sultan. They are all locked in by blood or by marriage.

Tinubu is in charge of all the logistics in maritime. Anytime you pay any tax, you are paying Tinubu. These men run this country like my bowel runs me.

Davido was telling you all what he spent 100m naira just to clear his Rolls Royce. No one paid attention to that. You all were looking Davido. it will get to your turn. Why on earth would a human spend such amount just to clear his car? There should have been a probe right away. But imagine 100m Naira into the pocket of these

There should be an established policy that certain standards of cars cannot come through and there should be an alternative to that.

Is it not time that the government stepped in to see how to subsidize the cost of vehicles for Nigerian citizens with Innoson? A government that does not manufacture car is legislating the type of car that you should buy when it does not provide good roads and employment for you. That is bullying. And, you are the one paying this government.

Institutionalized democracy is the way to go! As long as the centre is not in total control and individuals are more powerful than institutions, expect more of this.

Wonderful how well intended Laws are being exploited

Naija, na so,
Corruption will kill this country unless.....

Meanwhile,

I POB speaks concerning Monday Sit at home


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02VMQd0T0Fk

See how they keep rubbing innocent citizens of their livelihood for silly rules themselves can't even adhere to.......my dear country

Wickedness

Custom has always been corrupt but this retired colonel era has been laced with deep rooted nepotism.

Customs has ALWAYS been like that. Notice how most of those activities are happening in a certain part of the country? Its no coincidence ; cars are also comparatively cheaper there

I don taya for this nation called Nigeria

Atiku Abubakar institutionalised corruption in custom services. The money Atiku made from corruption in Customs is able to turn Nigeria to a Dubai city standard.


Secondly, Is this sleeping vegetable fit to be President?

Food4tot!

So na people source of livelihood dem dey sell give iron condemned aboki?

Chaiiii

Imagine say una mumu custom impound my 1.3million naira keke to the extent of selling it as scrap...I no sure say dem go fit succeed within selling me join as scrap

How can you sell a whole vehicle someone bought for up to a million Naira for as low as ₦5,000?
THIS IS EVIL AND WICKEDNESS OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.
This country is completely doomed and irredeemable.

Corruption can never stop!
There can never be peace or progress no matter who wins the next election, KNOW THIS AND NO PEACE. Whoever wins will still be frustrated by the other tribe(s) and/or will join-in to continue the evil, corruption and mismanagement.
THE BEST SOLUTION IS WE GO OUR SEPARATE WAYS.

How can one Emeka or Godwin or Babatunde hustle to buy a car from abroad with about a million naira and one retarɗed Bastard fool ani fool called Hamed or Musa impound it and sell it to himself for as low as 5k?
IT WILL NEVER BE WELL WITH ONE-NIGERIA.

stolen cars by the government from the helpless masses...
imagine buying a car with ur hard earned money finished,custom go collect it and auction it and as impounded cars
God go judge all of owna

I can tell you that people sitting at the centre of our government are those who wants it to fall.

Ekets:
Nothing is working in this country

Except corruption

adenigga:



Source: https://punchng.com/Customs-sell-impounded-vehicles-as-scraps-auctioneers-kick

Sold To Their Families & Allies....
Where are all the siezed goods, impounded as contraband
Shared among themselves & resold to the public at exorbitant price..... What A Country

I am not getting it. How can you auction goods that are banned? If they are banned they ought not to be sold or auction to the public because of the reason why it was banned.
Example you banned frozen food and rice because they are not good for consumption as claimed why then do you have to auction it to people for what ? Eating or to store in achieve? We are not sincere in this country

Our selfish, egocentric set of leaders have replaced service for humanity with self-service and self centeredness! Agreed, those items were banned but some desperate people brought it in. Auctioning it at a giveaway price to your cronies is not the solution! You can scrap it or have an open auction. The N in NCS truly stand for Northerners and not Nigeria... it's an organized northern cartel founded to enrich the abokeys

Sixfiguresmart:
The custom today is run by Atiku and his boys. Atiku is the biggest importer of generators. He owns that business. He was the former boss of customs. All these in operation today are his boys. These people hold our nation to a standstill. Everyone has put in loyalists in place to serve their personal interests. Mind you, these boys in charge of all these ministries have family relations with either the president, or an Emir or sultan. They are all locked in by blood or by marriage.

Tinubu is in charge of all the statistics in maritime. Anytime you pay any tax, you are paying Tinubu. These men run this country like my bowel runs me.

Davido was telling you all what he spent 100m naira just to clear his Rolls Royce. No one paid attention to that. You all were looking Davido. it will get to your turn. Why on earth would a human spend such amount just to clear his car? There should have been a probe right away. But imagine 100m Naira into the pocket of these

There should be an established policy that certain standards of cars cannot come through and there should be an alternative to that.

Is it not time that the government stepped in to see how to subsidize the cost of vehicles for Nigerian citizens with Innoson? A government that does not manufacture car is legislating the type of car that you should buy when it does not provide good roads and employment for you. That is bullying. And, you are the one paying this government.

Loud the truth. You are so on point.

adenigga:



Source: https://punchng.com/Customs-sell-impounded-vehicles-as-scraps-auctioneers-kick

For sale as advertised.
Neat
Barely used
Nylons all over
With carton
Ojodu Berger.
60k.
Quote me if interested.
WhatsApp
07082640565

Thieves

Sixfiguresmart:
The custom today is run by Atiku and his boys. Atiku is the biggest importer of generators. He owns that business. He was the former boss of customs. All these in operation today are his boys. These people hold our nation to a standstill. Everyone has put in loyalists in place to serve their personal interests. Mind you, these boys in charge of all these ministries have family relations with either the president, or an Emir or sultan. They are all locked in by blood or by marriage.

Tinubu is in charge of all the statistics in maritime. Anytime you pay any tax, you are paying Tinubu. These men run this country like my bowel runs me.

Davido was telling you all what he spent 100m naira just to clear his Rolls Royce. No one paid attention to that. You all were looking Davido. it will get to your turn. Why on earth would a human spend such amount just to clear his car? There should have been a probe right away. But imagine 100m Naira into the pocket of these

There should be an established policy that certain standards of cars cannot come through and there should be an alternative to that.

Is it not time that the government stepped in to see how to subsidize the cost of vehicles for Nigerian citizens with Innoson? A government that does not manufacture car is legislating the type of car that you should buy when it does not provide good roads and employment for you. That is bullying. And, you are the one paying this government.

When was atiku the former boss of cudtoms?

Can you provide evidence of atiku importing generators and being the biggest importer of generators?

Gh

Greed

onomeabuja:

Sold To Their Families & Allies....
Where are all the siezed goods, impounded as contraband
Shared among themselves & resold to the public at exorbitant price..... What A Country

Its not new. Customs has been operating like this for ages. Customs officials hardly go to the market to buy rice, cars, chicken, tin tomatoes or oil. They just take from those they seized. This shouldn't be news to anyone

Corruption unlimited.