The comptroller general of Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adeniyi, has said the service will commence implementation of the tax waiver on imported foods in one week.
Adeniyi spoke at a meeting of service chiefs and heads of security agencies convened by the chief of defence staff, General Christopher Musa, yesterday in Abuja.
He appealed to #EndBadGovernance protesters that efforts are ongoing to address their demands, especially concerning the cost of living standards.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu directed the suspension of import duties and taxes on essential food items to reduce inflation.
The Customs boss said the service was waiting for guidelines to be developed by the Ministry of Finance on the implementation of the suspension.
He disclosed that the guideline will be ready in one week, adding that the implementation will commence.
He acknowledged that the protest aimed to end hunger occasioned by the rising food inflation.
“I would like to let Nigerians know that there has been a lot that is going on to address these issues related to ameliorating this situation through a mixture of fiscal policies of the government and many strategic interventions from ministries, departments and agencies of government,” he said.
As part of the intervention, he recalled that the federal government directed the distribution of strategic food items released from the national grain reserves about a month ago.
“This was released to all states of the federation. We also recall that a number of the food items that are consumed in Nigeria are imported. Better components are imported, and importations are not done off the shelf. It takes some time before they are done,” he added.
He continued, “So one of the things that the president has done is to reduce the cost and push on the effects of cost inflation by suspending customs duties and taxes on imported food items for some time. We believe that when this is implemented, it will help to bring down the price of food items in the market.
“Nigeria Customs is committed to implementing this fiscal policy as enunciated by the government. But I also like to remind Nigerians that we need to be very, very careful in implementing this, which is why the implementation guidelines are being meticulously worked out at the Ministry of Finance. What kind of intervention is it? What does it imply for the local markets? Because we’re trying to address the interests of all the stakeholders. Most of these food items, which are items that will enjoy these duty waivers and concessions, are also being cultivated by Nigerian farmers. And so there is the interest to strike.”
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