Nigeria Customs reports N34 trillion naira duty waivers

The head of the Nigeria Customs Service told lawmakers on Monday, July 13, that government-approved import duty waivers, which reached a value of 34 trillion naira in 2025, have significantly constrained the agency's revenue generation. Comptroller-General Adewale Adeniyi disclosed the figure during an investigative hearing with the Senate Committee on Finance in Abuja.

Adeniyi explained that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC) scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for the massive waiver approvals. He stated that nearly 60 percent of the 2025 total covered duty-free importation of military hardware, a policy linked to Nigeria's ongoing security challenges. Other major categories benefiting from government-backed waivers included Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery, manufacturing inputs, and food import intervention programs.

While acknowledging that such fiscal policies directly impact Customs revenue, Adeniyi argued that policy should not be assessed on revenue generation alone, noting that waivers serve broader economic and social objectives. He urged the federal government...