The Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC) has cleared the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) of a N62.2 billion under-remittance query, while directing a broader reconciliation exercise on 76 remaining audit issues flagged by the Auditor-General of the Federation.
Investigative Hearing Details
The decision followed a detailed investigative hearing on financial infractions raised against Customs in the 2019 and 2020 audit reports. Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, appeared before the committee to defend the agency's records.
At the centre of the query was an allegation that out of N691.242 billion collected in 2017, only N629.23 billion was remitted to the Federation Account, leaving an unremitted balance of N62.2 billion.
Customs' Defense
Customs management argued that the figure was wrongly classified, explaining that the sum in question represented statutory levies collected on behalf of other government agencies and not funds due to the Federation Account. The Comptroller-General maintained that while some levies are payable into the Federation Account, others—such as charges on local production in sectors like wheat, textiles and wines—are not remittable in the manner assumed by the audit query. He attributed the discrepancy to classification differences in revenue reporting rather than any actual under-remittance.
Committee's Observations
Members of the committee noted that such discrepancies should ordinarily have been resolved at technical reconciliation level before escalating to a full Senate probe. Senator Babangida Hussaini (Jigawa North West) questioned why the matter reached the legislative stage. In response, the Customs chief cited administrative frictions between the Senate and the agency during the period under review, which he said affected earlier reconciliation efforts.
Resolution and Next Steps
Following deliberations, the committee accepted the explanation on the N62.2 billion query but emphasized the need for stronger coordination between audit institutions and revenue agencies to avoid recurring disputes over classification and remittance. Consequently, SPAC resolved to constitute a sub-committee to work with the Auditor-General's office and Customs to reconcile the remaining 76 audit queries, with a focus on closing gaps in revenue reporting and strengthening financial accountability systems.
The Senate stressed that future audit disputes should be resolved through structured technical engagement rather than prolonged legislative confrontation, in order to improve transparency and efficiency in public finance management.
