Lawmakers Declare End To 7% Cost of Collection, Other Import Charges, Order Nigeria Customs To Stop

• Nigerian importers and business people often have to deal with several random charges at the point of clearing their goods
• The lawmakers have identified two charges on the list that have no constitutional backing and ordered the Nigeria Customs to end them
• They issued a deadline to the agency and declared that any collection of illegal fees after the deadline would attract legal action

Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon, a Legit.ng journalist, has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.

The House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise has declared two charges illegal: the 1% Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) levy and the 7% cost of collection.

The lawmakers stated that neither charge is backed by any existing law and ordered the Nigeria Customs Service to stop the collection of the charges within seven days.

Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Leke Abejide (ADC, Kogi), gave this order on Monday during a budget defence session with the management of the Customs Service regarding its 2025 proposal.

Abejide stressed that the Customs Service has only one legally recognized source of funding, and that is the 4% Free-on-Board (FOB) allocation.

He declared that the committee has set June 30, 2025, as the final day any of these charges would be collected, and if levy collection continued after the deadline, it would attract legal consequences.

Nigeria Customs exceeded 2024 revenue target

The Committee commended the agency for exceeding its 2024 revenue target despite the challenge of inadequate funding, while urging compliance with the law.

Deputy Comptroller General of Customs in charge of Finance, Bello Mohammed Jibo, who represented the Comptroller General, explained to the committee that the implementation of the 4% FOB had been suspended to allow for stakeholder sensitisation, but Abejide rejected the suggestion.

He insisted that from July 1, it would become illegal for Nigeria Customs to collect the CISS or Cost of Collection fees in line with the Customs Management Act, the Nation reports.

His words:

“This committee is not unaware that CISS is not backed by any law in Nigeria. It is not in the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, and even your 7% cost of collection is equally illegal, as it is not in the LFN.

“The only legal source of income back by the Act of Parliament as signed by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria into Law and is Gazetted in LFN is the 4% Free-On Board (FOB) which can be found in section 18(1a) of Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023 (Federal Republic of Nigeria official Gazette No. 105 Lagos -9th June, 2023 Vol.110).”

Recall that the service seized many smuggled goods last year, and auctioned them off to Nigerians.

Meanwhile, the service has launched a faster system for cargo clearance, which is expected to help them meet their 2025 revenue target.

Reps ask NCS to explain budget underperformance

The committee also addressed the issue of the 2024 budget performance, noting that there was no justification for the underperformance given that the agency exceeded its revenue target by 20.2%.

In the report, capital project performance only came up to 45.68%, while overhead costs and personnel costs stood at 46.34% and 43.53% respectively.

Abejide decried the performance, noting that for an agency that generated N6.105 trillion against a target of N5.079 trillion, it raised questions about why the Nigeria Customs Service could not adequately fund its operations.

He observed that even though the CISS did not have constitutional backing, the service collected it and still could not take care of all its costs for the year.

Nigeria Customs B'Odogwu system goes live

In related news, the Nigeria Customs Service B'Odogwu System has been launched live at the TinCan Island Port.

This new system is expected to speed up the clearing of goods from the ports, and reduce it to hours.

Legit.ng reported that the first agent to clear his goods from the port, confirmed the speed and ease of use.

Source: Legit.ng