Nigeria Customs boss says import duty exemptions, largely granted for military equipment and key government interventions, have significantly reduced the agency’s revenue potential…..
The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adewale Adeniyi, says government-approved import duty waivers worth ₦34 trillion in 2025 have significantly constrained the agency’s ability to generate higher revenue.
Adeniyi made the disclosure while appearing before the Senate Committee on Finance during an investigative session with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja.
According to him, although the Nigeria Customs Service has continued to improve its revenue performance, several fiscal policy measures adopted by the Federal Government have had a direct impact on the amount the agency is able to collect.
He said the Service would have recorded much higher revenue if not for import duty exemptions and other external factors affecting collections.
“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,” Adeniyi told lawmakers.
The Customs boss explained that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC) scheme, introduced in March 2020, recorded approvals valued at about ₦34 trillion in 2025 alone.
He revealed that nearly 60 per cent of the approved waivers covered duty-free importation of military hardware, a decision driven by Nigeria’s current security challenges.
According to Adeniyi, the exemptions also extended to several strategic sectors of the economy, including the importation of compressed natural gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment, medical supplies, industrial machinery, manufacturing inputs and food imported under government intervention programmes.
Despite the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Adeniyi maintained that fiscal policies should not be evaluated solely by the amount of money they generate for government.
He argued that such interventions are often designed to achieve broader national objectives, including improving security, boosting industrial production, strengthening healthcare and supporting economic growth.
However, he called for stricter monitoring of beneficiaries of the waiver programme to ensure the incentives translate into measurable benefits for Nigerians, such as lower prices, increased local manufacturing and improved access to healthcare services.
Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Finance expressed dissatisfaction over the absence of several chief executives of government agencies invited to the investigative hearing.
Among the agencies whose heads failed to appear were 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.
Chairman of the committee, Sani Musa, warned that the affected agency heads must attend the committee’s next sitting or face sanctions in line with Senate rules.
