Customs Seeks Review of N1.68 Trillion Import Duty Waivers Over Revenue Leakage

The Nigeria Customs Service has called for a review of import duty concessions valued at N1.68 trillion, warning that poorly targeted waivers could undermine government revenue at a time the Federal Government is trying to strengthen public finances and fund essential services.

Comptroller-General of Customs Bashir Adeniyi said the concessions granted in 2024 needed to be examined to determine whether they were achieving their intended economic objectives or unnecessarily depriving government of revenue. He spoke at the University of Ibadan's TETFund Centre of Excellence in Security Management, where he delivered a lecture titled "Why Customs Matters: Revenue, Security and Nationhood in a Borderless World."

The revenue stakes

Adeniyi disclosed that Customs generated N7.28 trillion in 2025, exceeding its N6.58 trillion target, while collections reached approximately N4.03 trillion in the first half of 2026 against an annual target of N11.07 trillion. He traced the Service's growth from N3.2 trillion in 2023 to N6.105 trillion in 2024 and N7.28 trillion in 2025, attributing the improvement to stronger compliance, better valuation, digital systems and enforcement.

He emphasised that Customs revenue is not merely a federal resource: import duties flow into the Federation Account and are shared among the three tiers of government, with the Federal Government receiving 52.68 per cent, states 26.72 per cent and local governments 20.60 per cent. Under the new tax laws, 90 per cent of value-added tax collected on imports goes to states and local governments.

Fairness framing as enforcement inches up

Adeniyi framed evasion in distributional terms: "When a smuggler evades duty, he does not cheat an abstraction called government. He cheats a pupil, a nurse and a farmer." The line signals a deliberate communication strategy, pairing tougher revenue enforcement with a public-interest rationale rather than a purely fiscal one.

He said the Service would pursue its 2026 target through compliance, data and facilitation rather than harassment at the ports. "A target met by choking trade would be a false victory," he said, adding that Customs was addressing illicit financial flows and trade misinvoicing through which importers manipulate declared values or descriptions to evade duties.

Digitalisation and trade facilitation

The Service is deploying digital platforms and data analytics to improve import assessment and reduce port delays. Adeniyi said the B'Odogwu cargo-processing platform handled about 16,000 entries and generated N120 billion in its first three months at the Port and Terminal Multi-Services Limited Command. The National Single Window, which went live on March 27, 2026, is intended to connect trade-related government processes and cut documentation duplication.

He cited a study at Tin Can Island Port showing cargo release took almost five days on average, with more than 90 per cent of that time spent waiting. The target is a long-term reduction to 24 hours, with an interim goal of two days and scanning replacing physical examination for 99 per cent of cargo. Fifty-one companies certified under the Authorised Economic Operator programme cut clearance time from 168 hours to 41 hours, with demurrage costs falling about 90 per cent.

The review of the N1.68 trillion in waivers will test whether Nigeria can narrow the gap between concession policy and revenue reality. Adeniyi framed it as part of a broader reform agenda that includes independent academic evaluations of the Customs Act 2023, the waiver regime, the Authorised Economic Operator programme and the National Single Window — an acknowledgement that a reform never evaluated can never be improved.

Security and the border argument

Adeniyi tied revenue protection to national security, citing the interception of 399 pump-action rifles and hundreds of firearm components concealed in a container discharged from the vessel MV Velika at Tin Can Island Port in July 2026. The weapons were handed to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, with the case before the Federal High Court.

He also recalled the seizure of 844 rifles and 112,500 rounds of ammunition at Onne, Rivers State, in June 2024, and the handover of 1,599 firearms seized between 2018 and 2024. On counterfeit goods, he cited the interception of 25 containers of fake and unregistered medicines worth about N9.2 billion in July 2025. Wildlife enforcement produced the seizure of 3.76 tonnes of pangolin scales in Lagos in April 2025, representing at least 1,900 animals, and more than 25 tonnes of pangolin scales and over one tonne of ivory since 2021, with 12 convictions secured.

On border management, Adeniyi argued that intelligence-led enforcement and cooperation with neighbours are more sustainable than blanket closures. Nigeria's land-border closure between August 2019 and December 2020 curtailed some smuggling but did not eliminate the networks behind the illegal trade. "A nation is protected by intelligent control of its border, not by sealing it," he said.

He also linked Customs administration to the African Continental Free Trade Area, noting that imports from other African countries accounted for about four per cent of Nigeria's total imports in 2025 — a figure that points to significant room for intra-African trade growth if origin verification and preferential rules are properly applied. For importers, the practical takeaway is that the waiver review and the digitalisation push cut in opposite directions: tighter scrutiny of concessions, but faster clearance for compliant traders.