Customs explains MacArthur supported E-Auction initiative that made corruption impossible

MacArthur Foundation, an international donor agency and other anti-corruption partners have supported the Nigeria Customs Service in its bid to set up the E-Auction platform that eliminates corruption in Customs in its entirety.

Comptroller General of Customs who was represented by Uba Garba Mohammed, an Acting Assistant Comptroller General of Customs stated that the NCS under Hameed Ali would eliminate corruption in its activities through the electronic auction platform.

He stated this after he appeared before the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes in Abuja

He told the Senate Committee that E-auction was part of the report of the level of implementation of the “National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS), 2017 -2021 presented to the Senate Committee by NCS.

According to Customs, the E-auction is a new world standard procedure, “a system which is in conflict with the previous manual system that was fraught with corruption”.

The Acting Assistant Comptroller General in charge of Enforcement, Investigation said: “this system does not know anybody.

“When you click on the system, irrespective of status, it does not recognize region or favouritism. It is only the procedure based on the system that is recognised”.

He said “any Nigerian is free to access the system and if he or she is lucky he or she will get whatever may be the nature of the goods without any human interference”.

The Acting ACG said the E-auction has eliminated corruption to the extent that even the CG cannot use his discretionary power to favour anybody as the only thing the system recognises is proper procedure.

Other agencies of the Federal Government, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, etc came before the Senate Committee to show their implementation status of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy, NACS.