Nigeria lost N34 trillion to import duty waivers in 2025, a sum equivalent to 61 percent of the country's N54.99 trillion budget for the fiscal year. The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this during an investigative hearing before the Senate Committee on Finance on Monday, July 13, 2026.
IDEC approvals hit N34 trillion
Adeniyi stated that the value of Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC) approvals granted by the federal government for imported goods and equipment surged to N34 trillion in 2025. He noted that the issuance of these certificates has significantly depleted the nation's revenue, as the waivers represent forgone income for the government.
According to Adeniyi, the federal government's fiscal measures have both positive and negative impacts on the service's revenue generation capacity. He emphasized that Customs would have generated substantially more revenue over the years if not for certain government policies and external factors that constrained its operations.
Major policies affecting Customs revenue
The Comptroller-General identified the IDEC scheme, introduced in March 2020, as one of the major policies affecting Customs' revenue. He explained that IDEC approvals reached about N34 trillion in 2025, with 60 percent of that amount attributed to military hardware procurements that attracted duty exemptions due to Nigeria's prevailing security challenges.
"Other government-backed waivers included the importation of compressed natural gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, and food import intervention programs," Adeniyi added.
Revenue generation and budget comparison
Customs generated N7.28 trillion as revenue for 2025. This means Nigeria lost more than four times its generated revenue in the year under review to import waivers amounting to N34 trillion. The IDEC approvals for 2025 accounted for 61.8 percent of the country's N54.99 trillion budget for the 2025 fiscal year.
Adeniyi stressed that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely from the perspective of revenue generation but also by its broader economic and social impact. He urged the government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to evaluate whether beneficiaries of duty waivers were delivering the intended outcomes, including lower prices, increased production, and improved access to healthcare.
2026 revenue target update
Earlier, Adeniyi disclosed that out of the N11.04 trillion revenue target for 2026, the NCS had generated N4.5 trillion as of June 30, leaving about N7 trillion to meet its annual target. The hearing highlighted ongoing concerns about the effectiveness of duty waiver programs and their impact on national revenue.
