How government failure to repair faulty scanners for N769m in 2013 hobbles clearance procedures at ports

ABIOLA Seun |

Nigeria is currently paying dearly for the failure of the Federal government to take advantage of repairing the five scanners at Lagos ports and borders post for a paltry sum of N769, 888m in 2013 .

The five scanners which were then available at Apapa port, Tin-Can port, Seme and Idiroko border posts would have been repaired and transformed to new ones with that amount which experts considered as reasonable.

However, eight years after, almost all these scanners are in a terrible state of disrepair, a development which has compromised the security of the country.

It has also stifled quick cargo clearance procedures as most of the cargo routed to scanners have to be re-routed back to physical examination with its attendant delays.

For instance, 80 per cent of containers at Apapa port are routed to scanning but most of them had to be re-routed to physical examination because the only functional scanner at the port, out of three, could not cope with the deluge of cargoes.

However, the federal government has been indifferent to the state of the scanners at seaports allowing dangerous items to leave the ports un-noticed and exposing the greater populace to danger.

From when the report for the repair of the scanners was submitted, the Nigeria Customs Service had generated a whopping N4.64trillion from 2013 to 2017.

The Nigeria Customs Service generated N833.4billion in 2013; N977billion in 2014; N903billion in 2015; N878billion in 2016 and N1.037trillion in 2017.

However, contraband and ammunitions that have been coming into the country through the ports would have been avoided if the scanners that are in bad state at the various ports ,especially Apapa port were put in good shape.

According to a document sighted by our correspondent, the Implementation Transition Committee set up by the former Minister of Finance and coordinating minister of Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had recommended to the government that the five scanners at the seaports and land borders be updated and repaired with a paltry sum of €1,673,491 (N368, 168,020m) at a prevailing rate of N220/€ in 2013) to repair the scanners.

The report had recommended that the Apapa port fixed scanners were to be updated and repaired with €76,152 (N16,753,440) while the mobile scanners at Idiroko border were to be repaired with €200,052 (N44,011,440) and fixed scanners at Seme border to be done with €326,518 (N71,833,960).

Others are mobile scanners at Warri port to be worked on at €663,645 (N146, 001,900) and mobile scanner at Apapa port at €407123 (N89, 567,060).

“The total cost submitted by Smith Detection for the Update of the five scanners as at Nov. 2013 to the delivered state: fixed scanners Apapa Port €76,152; mobile Scanners Idiroko Border; €200,052; fixed Scanners Seme Border, €326,518; mobile Scanners Warri port, €663, 64 and mobile scanner Apapa port, €407,123 making a total €1,673,491.”

It was gathered in the document that the producer of the scanners performed some test and examination on the scanners before recommending repair worth € 673,491 which included ultimate Steel penetration, contrast indicator, spatial resolution and image quality indication. Others were penetration level, radiation protection, and radioactive metal detection, warranty end of date and age of the equipment.

The document read, “The three Scanning Companies, Cotecna, SGS, and Global Scan entered into contract for the provision, installation, operation and Management of X-Ray Scanning Machines and Computerized management for examination of goods on Build, Own, operate and Transfer(BOOT) for A period of 7 years from 2006 to 2012 extended for six months, which ended in June 2013.

“The Federal government subsequently entered in to Transition contract Agreement, with the Service providers on the 1st July to 30th November for transfer of Scanners to Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) with the constitution of the Transition Implementation Committee on Destination Inspection scheme by the then Coordinating Minister of Finance on the 5th of July,2013, with specific mandate to ensure a seamless transfer of functional scanners from the Service providers to Nigeria Customs Services (NCS).

On the recommendation of the transition implementation committee on destination inspection scheme and Smith Detection report, the documents read, “The Acceptance Procedure Audit Test Conducted by Smith Detection of the three (3) main level for the improvement of the facilities as follows: –

“Update: these are the Vital refurbishments necessary to return the system to an “ as” delivered state. Upgrade – these improvements will help fight obsolescence by replacing out- of –date items and systems. Enhancement – These optional additions, can add innovation new features to the existing Scanning technology.”

Speaking on the state of the scanner, the President, Shippers Association Lagos State (SALS), Rev. Jonathan Nicol said the only existing scanner at Apapa port could barely scan 150 containers daily.

He however asked the management of the Customs Service to fix the faulty scanners at the ports.
Nicol said, “There is no reason the NCS cannot change all the scanners at Nigerian ports. The scanners presently in use at the Lagos ports are those that were purchased by private companies, which previously handled our clearing process.

“Those scanners are old; with the number of cargoes coming through the Lagos ports, we need no less than four scanners each at the Apapa and Tin Can ports. These will ensure that a minimum of 400 containers are cleared daily. “

The Founder of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr Boniface Aniebonam also urged the management of Customs to put in place necessary infrastructure for officers and men of the service to discharge their duties diligently.

He noted that if the scanners at the ports were functional, the cache of arms would have been detected at the port instead of being intercepted on the road.

He said, “The CG of Customs should rather create an enabling environment for officers and also work in line with mandate set aside for them by the government such as provision of scanning machines in all the Seaports, airports and land borders to aid officers and men of service to perform optimally”.

Aniebonam further acknowledged that non-availability of scanners at the ports would also not facilitate trade and also expose the country.

However, Nigeria Customs Zonal Coordinator, Zone A, ACG, Aminu Dahiru, had declared that it was the responsibility of terminal operators to provide scanners.

During his visit to NAGAFF Headquarters in Lagos recently, ACG Dahiru said that since the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), provided scanners at the airports, it behoves on the terminal operators to do the same at the seaports, a statement amused stakeholders considered as uninformed and contradictory.

Be that as it may, experts lamented that government would need three times the amount needed in 2003 to fix those scanners now.