The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has cleared the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) of an alleged N62.2 billion under-remittance to the Federation Account, as contained in the 2019 Auditor-General’s audit report.
The investigative session, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, focused on 77 audit queries raised against Customs. A representative of the Auditor-General explained that in 2017, while Customs collected N691.242 billion, only N629.23 billion was remitted, leaving an outstanding N62.2 billion.
However, Comptroller-General Bashir Adewale Adeniyi explained that the figure resulted from a misclassification of levies collected on behalf of other government agencies, which are not meant for the Federation Account. He clarified that levies on local production of wheat, textiles, and wines go into non-federation accounts.
The committee accepted his explanation and vacated the query. Senator Babangida Hussaini questioned why the matter reached the Senate level, arguing it should have been resolved during reconciliation. Adeniyi noted the audit period coincided with strained relations between the Senate and Customs.
The committee resolved to set up a smaller reconciliation panel to address the remaining 74 audit queries.
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