Revenue Leakages: Reps To Investigate Alleged Diversion Of Containers In Ports, Bonded Terminals

By Alkassim Bala Tsakuwa, Abuja

The House of Representatives has mandated its Committee on Customs and Excise to investigate alleged diversion of containers leading to Excise duties leakages, Temporary importation irregularities and misuse of quota on importation of essential commodities.

It is to report within four (4) weeks for further legislative action.

The House also urged the Comptroller- General of Nigeria Customs Service to beam its searchlight on Nigeria Customs officers involved in the transfers 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.

This followed the adoption of a motion moved by Hon. Hassan Shehu Hussain at the Plenary on Wednesday.

Presenting the motion he stated that, Bonded Terminals and Fast-track Warehouses were created to decongest the ports and facilitate trade, thereby making them more user-friendly and to boost revenue generation for the Federal Government.

He however lamented that, the activities of some unscrupulous Bonded Terminals and Warehouses across the country are detrimental to the economy and pose a security threat to the nation.

He alleged that, “Containers meant to be transferred from mother ports under Nigeria Customs Service escorts with bond coverage for the value of the said containers are diverted before reaching their final destination, as the contents of such containers are unknown, and may contain dangerous drugs, such as tramadol, or arms and ammunition that could destroy the nation.

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

“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, additionally, the repeated recycling of these quotas has resulted in losses amounting to billions of Naira that should have accrued into the Federation account”.