The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, has disclosed that vehicle importation dropped by 45 percent in the first quarter of 2024 due to foreign exchange challenges in the country. During an interview with Arise Television, Adeniyi highlighted that this period was particularly critical for Nigerians and businesses because of the volatility in exchange rates.
“It affected car dealers. We had as much as a 45 percent decrease in the volume of cars that were brought into Nigeria in that period. And they were not the kind of cars that fetched optimum revenue for the customs. Not only cars, but even regular imports were also affected because people could no longer import raw materials as they wanted and the volatility did not allow them to plan for tomorrow,” Adeniyi stated.
However, Adeniyi expressed optimism about the second quarter of the year, noting, “But we see some relative degree of stability in the second quarter because there are lots of discussions going on. Some at the level of the National Assembly, most of them spearheaded by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, bringing the stakeholders that are involved together, to ensure that we achieve stability.”
Regarding the private jet owners’ verification exercise, Adeniyi noted that many private jet owners had started leaving Nigeria since the verification announcement was made. He stated that the jets leaving did not want to be verified and that only a few owners had shown up since the exercise began. “Very few of them have shown up for verification, and we gathered from intelligence that a good number of them have been leaving Nigeria since the announcement was given because they would not want to be verified,” he asserted.
Adeniyi explained the rationale behind the verification exercise, saying, “When you bring in an aircraft and you register, the next thing would be for the owners to come to Nigeria Customs and account for the customs duty if the jet is going to be used in Nigeria.” The CGC emphasized that many private jets were operating outside the ambit of the law, which necessitated the verification exercise. “We have seen so many of these aircraft flying, and our record tends to show that only a few of them have shown up to pay duty, and this is why we are bringing this verification up,” he said.
Adeniyi revealed that data from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority indicated that only a few private jets operating in the country had paid customs duty. He recalled that a similar exercise in 2019 had generated N2 billion for the customs service. “We did something close to this in 2019, and the exercise fetched us as much as N2 billion within the short time that we did it. We discovered that there were more private jets that were operating in Nigeria but had not been brought under the ambit of the law. So, the data that we got from the NCAA showed that only very few of them paid customs duty to operate in Nigeria,” Adeniyi stated.
He clarified that private jets used in Nigeria are required to pay duty according to international aviation law. “If they are here for a brief period in the Nigerian airspace and go, they are not obliged to pay any duty. If they were here on a temporary importation visit but once they are here and used within Nigeria, they are liable to pay duty,” Adeniyi explained.
On the issue of fuel prices in neighboring countries, Adeniyi pointed out that the significant price differences created incentives for smuggling. “When you get open-source intelligence, you discover that the prices of fuel in neighboring countries create a lot of incentives for smuggling. In Benin Republic, a liter of fuel is between N1,500 and N1,600. In Cameroon, it is as high as N2,000 per liter. So, when we have this kind of thing around our neighbors and we are still doing a liter between N710 and N720, there is already an incentive because the price difference is very wide,” he averred.
Adeniyi also discussed efforts to improve the welfare of customs officials. He mentioned ongoing efforts to address remuneration, working conditions, timely payment of housing allowances, and reviewing basic salaries. “In terms of remuneration, working conditions, adequate payment of houses when due, and even in terms of reviewing the basic salary of officers, efforts are in progress, and I want to believe that by the third quarter of 2024, we will make some of these known to officers to serve as motivation for them,” he explained.
He added that promotions for officials would now be announced on the first day of each year. “Promotion used to be very stagnant. But now, we are working with the customs board. We had an understanding that every year, on January 1, we are releasing the promotion of officers who are deserving. We have done it in January 2024, and we are hoping that by January 2025, the next batch of officers would benefit and they would be paid salaries commensurate with their new rank,” he declared.
