The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) announced that it will forgo N188.37 billion in import duties following the federal government’s directive to remove tariffs and other import duties on key food staples.

The Comptroller-General of NCS, Adewale Adeniyi, made this disclosure in his keynote address at the second Economic Confidential Lecture and book presentation in Abuja on Tuesday.

To alleviate food inflation in Nigeria, the minister of agriculture and food security, Abubakar Kyari, announced on July 8 the suspension of duties, tariffs, and taxes on certain food staples imported through land and sea borders.

These staples include maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpeas. The measure introduces a 150-day duty-free import window for these food commodities, to be implemented over a period of 180 days.

According to Mr Adeniyi, the six-month tariff suspension could result in a revenue forfeiture of approximately N188.37 billion, which represents the government’s commitment to prioritising food security over short-term revenue goals.

He noted that the removal of tariffs and import duties on key staples for the next six months represented a considerable sacrifice in terms of potential revenue.

The NCS estimates that the total import of these food items between 2020 and 2023 was N3,819,516,677,584, generating over N191 billion in custom duties and over N562 billion in various levies paid to the government.

Mr Adeniyi assured that the NCS would ensure seamless clearance of the listed foods, create special corridors to expedite their clearance, build the capacity of its personnel, and shore up its anti-smuggling measures to prevent the influx of unlisted food items.

Vice-President Kashim Shettima, speaking on the theme of the lecture, `Leveraging on Effective Communication for Revenue Generation and Economic Development` said the President Bola Tinubu’s administration was implementing hard reforms aimed at salvaging Nigeria’s economy.

The vice-president’s speech was delivered by Tope Fasua, the special adviser to the president on economic affairs, Office of the Vice President.

He highlighted the government’s achievements, including growing foreign reserves to over N37 billion and achieving a standard transmission of 4,500 megawatts of electricity.

He added that the federal government had provided conditional cash transfers to over one million families to alleviate their living difficulties and had settled seven billion dollars in inherited foreign obligations, among other measures.

Yushau Shuaib, managing director, Image Merchants Limited (IMPR), the organisers of the lecture series, commended the C-G for his efforts toward repositioning NCS and working in sync to implement Tinubu’s economic reforms.

Mr Shuaib said that the book titled, `Impactful Public Relations in Customs Management` was written following the strategic communications adopted by NCS to provoke constructive engagement and healthy dialogue with its various publics.

Awards of excellence by IMPR were presented to the C-G of customs, Aliko Dangote, Gov. Muhammed Yahaya of Gombe, Gov. Sanwo Olu of Lagos and the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

(NAN)