Reps To Probe Revenue Leakages Through Unremitted Customs Duties, Others

The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate revenue leakages through diversion of containers meant for bonded terminals/warehouses, improper assessment of excise duties, overdue temporary importation, and unremitted collected customs duties/levies.

This followed the adoption of a motion moved by Hon. Hassan Shehu Hussain(NNPP, Kano) at plenary on Wednesday.

Moving the motion, he stated that the creation of bonded terminals and fast-track warehouses was aimed at decongesting the ports and facilitating trade, thereby making the ports more user-friendly and boosting revenue for the federal government.

The lawmaker also noted that the activities of some unscrupulous bonded terminals/warehouses across the country are detrimental to the economy and pose a security threat to the nation.
He expressed worry that containers meant to be transferred from mother ports under the Nigeria Customs Service, escorted with bond coverage for the value of the said containers, are diverted before reaching their final destination.

He argued that; “it is the policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria to grant tax or excise duty holidays to newly established factories and industries, typically for a three-year grace period before excise duties are collected, however, some of these factories and industries abuse this largesse and continually evade paying excise duties, while in some cases, the collection of excise duties is done manually, leading to improper assessments and inadequate collections.

“Another source of substantial revenue loss to the Federation account is through Temporal Importation (TI), an arrangement that supports investors to bring in vessels, aircraft, and other major
equipment for a specified period without paying customs duties, provided a cash-backed bond with banks for the duration applied for is deposited.

“Unfortunately, many organisations with TI have exceeded their bond periods, and these bonds remain undischarged into the Federal Government’s account, resulting in unpaid duties.”

Hussain also expressed concern that another cause of revenue losses is due to the overshooting of import quotas for sugar and other essential commodities to supplement local production shortfalls, which were doubled without proper government approval, leading to a loss of
billions of Naira that should have accrued to the Federation account.

Adopting the motion, the House urged the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service to beam its searchlight on Customs officers involved in the transferring and escorting of containers on bond through the use of technology to ensure every container’s duty is collected and accounted for to its final destination.