The Senate Public Accounts Committee has cleared the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) of allegations that it failed to remit N62.2 billion to the Federation Account, as contained in the 2019 Audit Report of the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation, SavannahNewnow learnt.
The decision was reached during an investigative hearing on 77 audit queries bordering on alleged financial infractions by the Customs Service in the 2019 and 2020 audit reports.
The session was attended by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, and representatives of the Auditor-General’s office.
During the hearing, the Auditor-General’s representative informed the committee that Customs generated N691.242 billion in revenue in 2017 but remitted N629.23 billion into the Federation Account, leaving an alleged outstanding balance of N62.2 billion.
Responding to the query, Adeniyi explained that the amount in question largely comprised levies collected on behalf of other government agencies and funds not designated for remittance into the Federation Account.
According to him, the discrepancy arose from the classification of various levies as Customs revenue.
He clarified that while some collections were payable into the Federation Account, others including levies on the local production of wheat, textiles, and wines were earmarked for specific purposes and therefore excluded from federation revenue remittances.
The Customs boss provided similar explanations for the second and third audit queries, prompting members of the committee to question why the issues had not been resolved during the reconciliation process with auditors before escalating to legislative scrutiny.
Chairing discussions on the matter, members of the committee expressed the view that the issues appeared straightforward and could have been settled administratively through proper engagement between Customs officials and auditors.
Senator Babangida Hussaini noted that the queries seemed to stem from reconciliation challenges rather than actual financial infractions, stressing that such matters should ordinarily have been resolved before reaching the National Assembly.
In response, Adeniyi attributed the situation to the strained relationship that existed between the Nigeria Customs Service and the National Assembly during the period under review.
Satisfied with the explanations provided, the committee cleared the Customs Service of the alleged N62.2 billion under-remittance and resolved to establish a small reconciliation committee to review the remaining 76 audit queries.
The committee is expected to work closely with Customs officials and submit its findings for further legislative consideration.
