Nigeria Customs Service seeks review of import waivers and 2023 Act

He also advocated for a review of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023, noting that three years of implementation have revealed areas needing refinement to adapt to the country's evolving trade environment. Adeniyi made these appeals during a retreat for the Senate Committee on Customs, emphasizing a shift in legislative oversight from individual cargo clearances to the digital systems driving customs operations, including automated risk management and the effectiveness of tax exemptions. He highlighted that a significant volume of imports enters Nigeria under government-approved concessions, whose continued relevance requires legislative attention.

The Comptroller-General also revealed that Import Duty Exemption Certificate approvals reached N34 trillion in 2025, with 60 percent granted for military hardware procurement due to security challenges. He stressed that Customs modernization involves replacing human discretion with transparent, technology-driven systems, citing the deployment of the indigenous B'Odogwu customs platform and the Trade Modernisation Project as key reforms. While acknowledging the Service generated N7.277 trillion in 2025, exceeding its target, and N3.35 trillion between January and May 2026, Adeniyi cautio