The Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC) has cleared the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) of allegations of N62.2 billion under-remittance contained in the 2019 Audit Report of the Auditor-General for the Federation.
The committee reached the decision on Tuesday during an investigative session with the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, while examining 77 audit queries relating to alleged financial infractions raised against the service in the 2019 and 2020 audit reports.
Following deliberations on the first three audit queries and explanations provided by the Customs leadership, the committee resolved to set up a special reconciliation panel to address the remaining 76 outstanding audit issues.
During the session, representatives of the Auditor-General’s office informed the committee that Customs generated N691.242 billion in revenue in 2017 but remitted only N629.23 billion into the Federation Account, leaving an alleged balance of N62.2 billion unremitted.
Responding to the query, Adeniyi dismissed the allegation, explaining that the amount in question represented levies collected on behalf of other government agencies and special funds that were not designated for remittance into the Federation Account.
According to him, the audit observation arose from a misclassification of revenue categories.
“The alleged under-remittance of N62.2 billion was wrongly arrived at through the misclassification of levies collected by Customs.
While some collections are meant for remittance into the Federation Account, others, including certain levies on local production of wheat, textiles, wines and related products, are not payable into the Federation Account,” he said.
The Customs boss maintained that the disputed amount comprised funds legally collected for specific purposes and beneficiaries outside the Federation Account structure.
He offered similar explanations on the second and third audit queries, which appeared to satisfy members of the committee.
A member of the panel, Senator Babangida Hussaini, expressed surprise that the issues had progressed to the stage of legislative investigation.
“I was in the civil service just like the chairman of this committee before venturing into politics. Queries one, two and three should have been resolved at the reconciliation stage with auditors and not allowed to get to this level,” he said.
In response, Adeniyi noted that the period covered by the audit coincided with years in which relations between the Senate and the Nigeria Customs Service were less cordial, a situation he suggested may have contributed to unresolved issues.
Chairman of the committee, Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, subsequently announced the committee’s decision to vacate the N62.2 billion under-remittance query.
The panel also resolved to establish a smaller reconciliation committee that would work directly with Customs officials and representatives of the Auditor-General’s office to review and harmonise positions on the remaining audit observations.
The move is expected to pave the way for the resolution of the outstanding queries and provide clarity on issues raised in the 2019 and 2020 audit reports concerning the operations of the Nigeria Customs Service.
