The House of Representatives on Wednesday directed the management of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to submit a comprehensive breakdown of the approximately ₦34 trillion worth of import duty waivers granted in the 2025 fiscal year.
The lawmakers also requested comprehensive information on all the beneficiaries, the legal basis for the concessions, and the purposes for which the waivers were approved.
Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, issued the directive during the revenue monitoring and oversight exercise initiated by the committee.
Faleke stressed that while the committee was not opposed to the government’s waiver policy, the National Assembly has the constitutional responsibility to ensure that such concessions are granted transparently and serve the national interest.
He said, “The waiver is good. It is not a bad thing to grant waivers. But we want to know those who benefited from the waivers and the purpose for which they were granted. It is okay if you grant waivers on medical and agricultural products.
“If you grant waivers, they are aimed at helping the economy to grow. For example, if you grant waivers on agricultural products, they are aimed at reducing the cost of food. So, we are not against waivers. But we want to know the beneficiaries of this ₦34 trillion waiver.”
The lawmakers also queried the Nigeria Customs Service over what they described as inconsistencies in its revenue reporting, despite the agency surpassing its annual revenue targets.
While acknowledging that the NCS recorded impressive revenue collections for the year under review, Faleke noted that the financial records presented to the committee failed to adequately explain the sources of the excess revenue generated beyond the approved targets.
He maintained that proper accountability required a detailed month-by-month explanation of revenue performance.
“We are not going to applaud your efforts now because your account books are not balanced. We know that you want to be transparent, but you have not told us how the excess money you are reporting came about.
“I can see that in some months, you under-declare your revenue collection and in other months, you overshoot the collection. We want to know what is responsible for this. You have to provide these little details that will help us properly assess your performance.”
For his part, the Deputy Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Saidu Abdullahi, underscored the need for the Federal Government to raise the revenue targets assigned to its agencies, particularly revenue-generating institutions such as the Nigeria Customs Service.
According to him, the service has consistently exceeded its annual targets, indicating that its revenue potential is significantly higher.
“I personally believe that they can do more than the target we give them.
“I think we are not pushing them enough. That is why they always come up with excesses. In 2024, you were given a target of ₦5 trillion and you generated ₦6.1 trillion. In 2025, you were given a target of about ₦6 trillion and you generated ₦7.2 trillion. I believe that if we push you enough, you can do better.”
In response, 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 merely implements approvals granted by the Federal Ministry of Finance in accordance with existing laws and government policy.
On trade facilitation, Adeniyi advocated the establishment of inland dry ports across the country, describing them as critical infrastructure that would reduce congestion at the nation’s seaports and improve cargo clearance.
He therefore urged state governments to invest in such facilities to support economic activities.
“I will encourage all state governments to invest in inland dry ports. That will have a lot of impact on our operations. Any cargo that is marked for such an inland port will not be delayed at the main port.
“The container will be transported directly to the inland port, where it will be examined. That will reduce the pressure on the nation’s ports and increase trade facilitation in the states.”
Addressing concerns over delays in cargo clearance, Adeniyi informed the committee that Customs scanners were largely functional, except for a few units currently undergoing repairs.
In his intervention, a member of the committee, Hon. Ifeanyi Uzokwe, called on the Customs management to sanction officers responsible for operating the scanners whenever negligence contributes to equipment failure or operational delays.
In his ruling, Faleke requested a comprehensive report on the revenue realised by the service and the specific areas from which the excess revenue was generated.