The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adewale Adeniyi, says the cost of import duty exemption certificate approvals rose to N34 trillion in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors limiting customs revenue generation.
Adeniyi disclosed this during an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja.
He said that the government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He noted that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about 34 trillion naira in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Adeniyi added that other government-backed duty 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.
He acknowledged the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, but argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
Adeniyi further urged the Federal Government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
