By Seun Ibiyemi
The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adeniyi, has disclosed that Import Duty Exemption Certificate approvals granted by the Federal Government on selected imports and equipment rose to N34 trillion in 2025, warning that the incentives have significantly constrained the agency’s revenue-generating capacity.
Adeniyi made the disclosure on Monday during an investigative hearing of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja.
The Customs boss told lawmakers that while the Nigeria Customs Service remains one of the country’s top revenue-generating institutions, government-approved duty waivers and fiscal interventions have reduced its ability to maximise revenue collections.
According to him, one of the major policies affecting Customs revenue is the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme introduced in March 2020.
“IDEC approvals reached about N34 trillion in 2025, 60 per cent of which was rightly done by the government in relation to military hardware procurements, which attracted duty exemptions because of Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges,” Adeniyi said.
He explained that other government-backed waivers covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
Despite the impact on revenue, Adeniyi argued that fiscal policies should not be assessed solely from the perspective of revenue generation, noting that duty exemptions also serve broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the Federal Government to strengthen monitoring mechanisms to ensure that beneficiaries of the incentives deliver expected outcomes, including lower prices, increased industrial output and improved access to healthcare services.
The Comptroller-General also disclosed that the Customs Service generated N4.5 trillion as of June 30, 2026, from its annual revenue target of N11.04 trillion, leaving about N7 trillion to be realised before the end of the fiscal year.
The hearing also exposed disagreements over allegations of non-remittance of operating surpluses by some government agencies.
Representing the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, the Deputy Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, Bello Gulmare, alleged that the Nigeria Customs Service owed N8.9 billion in unremitted operating surplus to the Consolidated Revenue Fund as of 2019.
The allegation was rejected by Customs officials.
Similarly, the commission claimed that the Corporate Affairs Commission had an outstanding liability of N13.9 billion in unremitted operating surplus covering the period from 2023 to 2025.
Responding to the allegation, the Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, said the agency had been making efforts to settle the outstanding obligations.
Following the submissions, the Senate Committee on Finance directed the Corporate Affairs Commission, the Fiscal Responsibility Commission and the committee’s secretariat to reconcile their records and establish the exact amount outstanding.
Chairman of the committee, Senator Sani Musa, said the reconciliation exercise should be concluded within two weeks ahead of another engagement with the commission.
“A detailed report on the outcome of the planned meeting should be ready within the next two weeks for another interface with CAC,” Musa said.
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The committee chairman also threatened sanctions against the heads of several agencies, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, the Industrial Training Fund, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria and the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, for failing to honour the committee’s invitation.
“Heads of agencies like NCAA, ITF, SMEDAN, FMC Jabi and others who failed to physically attend today’s session should unfailingly make themselves available at the next sitting or risk severe sanction through invocation of the relevant section of our rules against them,” he warned.
The Senate has intensified oversight of revenue-generating agencies in recent months as part of efforts to boost government earnings, enforce compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act and ensure the remittance of operating surpluses into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
The Finance Committee has also been reviewing the impact of tax waivers and import duty exemptions on Nigeria’s revenue profile amid increasing pressure on the government to expand non-oil revenue sources.
