A fresh scrutiny of Nigeria’s import duty waiver regime unfolded at the National Assembly on Monday after the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) disclosed that duty exemptions granted by the Federal Government surged to ₦34 trillion in 2025.
The disclosure came during an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance, which also threatened sanctions against several government agencies, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi, for failing to honour invitations to appear before lawmakers.
Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, explained that while Customs remains one of the country’s biggest revenue-generating agencies, government fiscal policies have significantly shaped its earnings over the years.
He identified the Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC) scheme, introduced in March 2020, as one of the major factors limiting customs revenue, revealing that approved exemptions reached about ₦34 trillion in 2025 alone.
According to Adeniyi, nearly 60 per cent of the waivers covered duty-free imports of military hardware to strengthen Nigeria’s security operations, while other exemptions supported the importation of compressed natural gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, medical equipment, industrial machinery, manufacturing inputs and food intervention programmes.
The Customs chief maintained that duty waivers should not be judged only by the revenue they deny government but also by the economic and social benefits they are designed to achieve. He, however, called for stronger accountability measures to ensure beneficiaries deliver on expected outcomes such as increased local production, affordable goods and improved healthcare services.
On revenue performance, Adeniyi told senators that Customs had realised ₦4.5 trillion as of June 30, representing about 41 per cent of its ₦11.04 trillion revenue target for 2026.
The hearing also brought to the fore disagreements over alleged unpaid operating surpluses. A representative of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) alleged that the Customs Service had an outstanding liability of ₦8.9 billion dating back to 2019 for unremitted operating surplus, a claim Customs firmly disputed.
The commission also alleged that the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) owed ₦13.9 billion in outstanding remittances between 2023 and 2025. Responding, CAC Registrar-General Hussaini Ishaq Magaji said the commission had begun offsetting the liabilities.
To establish the accurate figures, the Senate committee directed the CAC, the Fiscal Responsibility Commission and committee officials to reconcile their records and submit a joint report within two weeks.
Chairman of the committee, Senator Sani Musa, expressed displeasure over the absence of some agency heads, warning that those who failed to appear—including officials of NCAA, SMEDAN, ITF and FMC Jabi—must attend the next hearing or face sanctions in line with Senate rules.