Nigeria's Senate has cleared the customs authority of a N62.2 billion under-remittance allegation. The Public Accounts Committee made this ruling on Tuesday during an audit inquiry session.
The disputed funds were listed in a 2019 audit report from the Office of the Auditor-General. Customs chief Bashir Adewale Adeniyi appeared before lawmakers to defend the Service against this charge.
According to Adeniyi, the N62.2 billion figure resulted from accounting errors by auditors. He explained that the Service collects levies on behalf of multiple government agencies, not just the Federation Account.
"Some levies go into the Federation Account," he told the committee. "Others like those on wheat, textiles and wine production don't go there at all."
Adeniyi said auditors had wrongly classified these separate revenue streams as unremitted funds. This misclassification created the apparent gap, he added.
Lawmakers accepted his clarification without further objection. The committee also cleared Customs on two additional related queries using similar explanations.
Senator Babangida Hussaini, however, raised concerns about the process itself. "These queries should've been resolved with auditors before reaching this stage," the Jigawa lawmaker said.
Hussaini, a former civil servant, questioned why such basic discrepancies weren't caught earlier. He felt the disputes reflected poor coordination between agencies.
Adeniyi responded by noting tense relations between the Senate and Customs during the years in question. He suggested this atmosphere had complicated routine reconciliation efforts.
Committee chairman Senator Ibrahim Dankwabo announced a new approach moving forward. A smaller subcommittee will now work directly with Customs to resolve outstanding issues.
Seventy-four queries remain unresolved from the 2019 and 2020 audit reports. Officials said the new reconciliation panel will accelerate settlement of these cases.
The subcommittee will focus on fast-tracking resolutions without unnecessary delays. Both sides have committed to completing the work promptly.
