By Joshua Yousouph
Following the disclosure that Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC) approvals reached N34 trillion in 2025, stakeholders in Nigeria’s maritime and trade sector have thrown their weight behind the proposed review of the country’s import waiver regime, calling for stricter controls and ensuring that only genuine beneficiaries enjoy the concessions.
Their position followed a recent call by the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, for the National Assembly to review the country’s import waiver and concession framework and determine whether the incentives still serve the economic purposes for which they were introduced.
The call gained further significance after Adeniyi disclosed that the value of Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC) approvals granted by the Federal Government on selected imports and equipment rose to N34 trillion in 2025.
Speaking last week with Shipping Position Daily on the development, a chieftain of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Sir John Oforbike, said there were legitimate reasons for government to grant import duty waivers, but expressed concern over possible abuse of the regime.
According to him, Customs practitioners are not policymakers but implement policies formulated by government, adding that policymakers must, however, ensure that concessions reach the people and sectors for which they were created.
He said waivers could legitimately apply to certain categories of imports, including ordinations from the international community, religious books, charitable organisations and other special consignments recognised by law.
However, he questioned whether all those currently benefiting from the scheme genuinely qualify for the exemptions. “But again, are we sure that they are not being abused? Who are those people who are supposed to be granted a waiver? Are they the right people?” he asked.
Oforbike expressed concern that some businessmen could take advantage of the regime to reduce their import costs and increase their profit margins, resulting in revenue losses for the government. He therefore called for stronger monitoring of beneficiaries to determine whether the concessions are being enjoyed by the right categories of importers.
According to him, the authorities should not completely abolish the waiver regime because some imports genuinely deserve preferential treatment. He urged the government to strengthen post-clearance monitoring so that importers who obtain exemptions but are subsequently found not to have met the requirements could be made to pay the appropriate duties.
“They cannot entirely stop granting waiver. There are some people that are supposed to merit it — religious books, donations from the international community and some charity organisations. If they examine and recover that people who enjoy this waiver are not supposed to enjoy, they will call for their paper, and they pay the underserved funds,” he said.
Also supporting a review, the Head of Research at the Sea Empowerment Research Centre (SEREC), Eugene Nweke, said the growing emphasis on Customs modernisation could reduce the need for some categories of import waivers.
Nweke said the reforms being implemented by the Customs administration were largely designed to align Nigeria’s trade facilitation processes with the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Framework of Standards.
According to him, companies that comply with Customs standards and take advantage of the benefits offered by modern trade facilitation systems should not continue to rely heavily on government waivers.
Nweke, however, cautioned that the government must recognise the peculiar challenges facing manufacturers before taking decisions that could further increase their operating costs. He urged the relevant authorities to engage manufacturers and other affected stakeholders before determining which concessions should be retained or removed.
Nweke also cautioned against rushing to amend the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023, arguing that the legislation was still relatively new. He added that the latest position by Customs should be seen as a proposal for future legislative consideration rather than an immediate amendment process.
“Moreover, the Act in question is just 2023. It is not going to be automatic. Every Act must wait for five years before it goes back for an amendment. There are certain waivers that should not be contemplated anymore because the system has made it possible for you to become an AEO operator. You have so many benefits to gain, and it is just for you to comply with standards,” he said.
Meanwhile, the President of Shippers Association of Lagos State (SALS), Rev. Nicodemus Odolo, said he had no objection to a review of the waiver regime, particularly if the exercise would determine which beneficiaries should remain eligible.
Odolo explained that a review could result in the removal of some categories or the inclusion of others, depending on their relevance to the economy. He maintained that import waivers remain a legitimate policy instrument used by governments around the world and that Nigeria should not seek to eliminate them entirely.
He, however, agreed that the government must regularly review the categories of beneficiaries to ensure that the scheme remains relevant and does not become a channel for revenue leakage.
“It is important that waiver is a thing that we cannot do without, meaning that every government of nations are doing it, so we cannot opt out of it. But who and who can benefit from the waiver is what they review and, yes, it is right to review,” Odolo said.
