The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has exonerated the Nigeria Customs Service from a ₦62.2 billion under-remittance allegation contained in the 2019 audit report of the Auditor-General of the Federation.
The decision followed an investigative hearing on Tuesday, where the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, appeared before lawmakers to respond to audit queries raised against the service.
During the session chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe North), the committee examined 77 audit queries spanning the 2019 and 2020 reports, with initial focus on three key allegations.
According to the Auditor-General’s submission, the Customs Service collected ₦691.242 billion in 2017 but remitted ₦629.23 billion to the Federation Account, leaving a perceived shortfall of ₦62.2 billion.
However, Adeniyi told the committee that the figure was the result of misclassified revenues, explaining that several levies collected by Customs were not meant for remittance into the Federation Account.
He noted that while some charges are federally remittable, others, such as levies on local production of wheat, textiles, and wine, are retained by relevant agencies, thereby accounting for the discrepancy flagged in the audit report.
Following his explanation, the committee accepted the clarification and vacated the query, effectively clearing the service of wrongdoing on the matter.
Lawmakers also reviewed additional responses from the Customs CG on other queries, with similar explanations provided on related issues.
A member of the committee, Senator Babangida Hussaini (Jigawa North West), questioned why the matter escalated to a Senate-level investigation, suggesting it should have been resolved earlier at the reconciliation stage between auditors and the agency.
In response, Adeniyi attributed the situation partly to strained relations between the Senate and the Customs Service during the period under review, which contributed to unresolved audit issues.
After deliberations, the committee resolved to set up a smaller reconciliation panel to work through the remaining 74 audit queries and resolve outstanding financial concerns in the reports.