The House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise has pledged to launch a thorough investigation into the alleged diversion of imported finished goods into Free Trade Zones (FTZs), a move that has reportedly cost Nigeria over ₦1.5 trillion in lost revenue within a year.
Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Leke Abejide, made the revelation during a visit to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Command at the Lekki Free Trade Zone on Friday.
He accused certain licensed Customs clearing and forwarding agents, in collusion with unscrupulous officials within the Nigeria Customs Service and other government agencies, of engaging in what he termed as economic sabotage.
“It was so bad that in one of the free trade zones that I don’t want to mention because I don’t want them to run away; we know them and we will go back to five years later and collect this trillions from them. So this is where you should be looking at,” Abejide said.
He explained that the perpetrators exploit provisions in the law that allow for a grace period after production before duties are paid, taking advantage of this window to avoid remitting taxes altogether.
“They will not pay duty because the law says in three months after production you will come and pay duty. They will go and sell first. Honourable colleagues, this has worked so fast. We need to do something about it. More than ₦1.5 trillion lost in the process of this last year.”
The committee chair also hinted at ongoing covert strategies to recover lost revenue.
“We are doing it already but I don’t say it out. The system we are going to use, they will know that we, too, we are experts in this. We will be able to get them—those who they thought they have beaten five years, they must vomit it.”
Recounting how goods purported to be raw materials are being smuggled in as finished products, Abejide said, “We know them and I believe in this place it’s happening too whereby they will come in the form of bringing raw materials and they bring finished goods and they take it to the market.”
During a stop at the DUFIL Prima Packaging factory situated within the Lekki FTZ, Abejide added that the National Assembly would work to amend the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) Act to close the loopholes that have enabled widespread abuse of the FTZs.
