The House of Representatives Committee on Finance has directed the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to submit a comprehensive breakdown of the approximately ₦34 trillion worth of import duty waivers granted in 2025, demanding details of the beneficiaries, the legal basis for the concessions and the specific purposes for which the waivers were approved.
The directive was issued in Abuja on Wednesday by the Chairman of the Committee, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, during the appearance of the management of the Nigeria Customs Service before the panel as part of the National Assembly’s ongoing revenue monitoring and oversight exercise.
Faleke said the committee was not opposed to the government’s waiver policy but had a constitutional responsibility to ensure that such concessions were granted transparently and in the national interest, stressing that lawmakers wanted to determine whether the waivers achieved the economic objectives for which they were approved.
According to him, waivers granted on agricultural and medical products should ultimately reduce food and healthcare costs and stimulate economic growth, maintaining that the committee wanted full disclosure of the beneficiaries of the ₦34 trillion concessions and the impact of the policy.
The committee also questioned the Nigeria Customs Service over what it described as inconsistencies in its revenue reporting despite the agency exceeding its annual revenue targets.
Faleke observed that the financial records presented did not adequately explain the sources of the excess revenue generated beyond approved projections.
He said Customs would not receive commendation until its financial records were properly reconciled, noting that there were unexplained fluctuations in monthly revenue collections.
The committee requested a detailed month-by-month breakdown to enable lawmakers to accurately assess the agency’s performance.
The Deputy Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Saidu Mohammed Abdullahi, argued that the Federal Government should raise revenue targets for agencies such as the Nigeria Customs Service, saying the Service had consistently surpassed its targets, indicating that its revenue-generating capacity was significantly higher.
Abdullahi noted that Customs generated ₦6.1 trillion against a ₦5 trillion target in 2024 and ₦7.2 trillion against a target of about ₦6 trillion in 2025.
According to him, setting more ambitious targets would encourage the agency to deliver even greater revenue for the country.
Responding to lawmakers, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, represented by the Deputy Comptroller-General in charge of Finance, Administration and Technical Services, Kikelomo Adeola, clarified that the Nigeria Customs Service does not approve import duty waivers.
She explained that the Service only implements approvals granted by the Federal Ministry of Finance in line with existing laws and government policy, urging state governments to establish inland dry ports, describing them as vital infrastructure for reducing congestion at the nation’s seaports and improving cargo clearance.
She added that most Customs scanners were operational, with only a few currently undergoing repairs.
During the session, a member of the Committee, Hon. Ifeanyi Uzokwe, called on the Customs management to sanction officers whose negligence contributed to scanner failures or delays in cargo clearance and stressed the need for greater accountability to improve operational efficiency.
The committee also turned its attention to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), directing it to submit records of all registered companies and businesses, including registration fees paid.
Lawmakers further queried the Commission for failing to submit audited financial statements to the Fiscal Responsibility Commission since 2019, while the FRC disclosed that the CAC owed the Federal Government ₦13.9 billion in unremitted operating surplus.
The CAC said it had commenced reconciliation with the FRC and agreed to liquidate the outstanding liability through quarterly payments of ₦500 million.
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