Reps Give Nigeria Customs 7-Day Ultimatum to Stop Illegal Charges
The House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise has issued a firm directive to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to cease the collection of the 1% Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) levy and the 7% cost of collection within seven days, declaring both levies illegal and not backed by any current Nigerian law.
Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Leke Abejide (ADC, Kogi), issued the directive on Monday during a budget defence session with the Customs management regarding its 2025 proposal.
Abejide asserted that the only legal source of funding for the NCS is the 4% Free-on-Board (FOB) allocation provided by the law.
While commending the Service for exceeding its 2024 revenue target, he criticised the federal government’s inadequate funding and warned that the 1% CISS and 7% collection charges must stop by June 30, 2025. Any continuation beyond that date, he said, would be considered illegal and met with legal consequences.
Deputy Comptroller General of Customs in charge of Finance, Bello Mohammed Jibo, representing the Comptroller General, explained that the implementation of the 4% FOB was paused temporarily to allow for stakeholder sensitisation.
However, Abejide rejected the justification.
He stated that the House would initiate legal action if the directive was ignored, urging compliance with the Nigeria Customs Service Act.
The lawmaker also decried the poor implementation of the 2024 budget despite the service generating ₦6.105 trillion—a 20.21% increase from its target of ₦5.079 trillion. Yet, personnel funding stood at 43.53%, overhead at 46.34% and capital project performance at 45.68%.
He was alarmed that 60% of the CISS levy, meant to cover personnel, overhead, and capital projects, was not remitted to Customs’ accounts throughout 2024.
“It is in the opinion of this committee that you should tell us what went wrong because the purpose of creating 1% CISS was to take care of service providers back then such as COTECNA, SGS, and GLOBAL SCAN who were responsible for valuation and the issuance of Risk Assessment Report (RAR) and maintain scanning operations.
Also, payment is equally made to Web Fountaine Limited, which provided network and automation to NCS. But about 80% of these operations and work schedules have been taken over by the Nigeria Customs Service. Therefore, why are you not getting your share of 60% of the 1% CISS?”
Abejide added that both the 1% CISS and 7% collection cost are not listed in the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN), stressing:
“However, 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 backed 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).”
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In his defence, Jibo noted that the Service has faced challenges such as duty exemptions, currency devaluation, drop in cargo throughput and de-excising of key commodities, which affected performance in 2024. He said the Customs modernization project, featuring a Unified Customs Information System, would boost efficiency and revenue going forward.
The NCS, he added, is also focusing on Post-Clearance Audit (PCA), valuation reforms and stakeholder engagement to tackle revenue leakages and boost compliance.
To improve 2025 performance, he recommended: re-introducing excise duties on telecom services and plastics, reviewing tax expenditure policies and deploying more scanners and surveillance equipment across formations.
Jibo assured that anti-smuggling campaigns would be intensified with full legal backing to curb illicit trade and economic sabotage.
