Senate Exonerates Customs Over Alleged ₦62.2bn Revenue Shortfall
The Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC) has cleared the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) of allegations that it failed to remit ₦62.2 billion to the Federation Account, following an investigation into queries raised in the 2019 report of the Auditor-General for the Federation.
The clearance was granted during a committee session held on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, after the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, presented evidence showing that the alleged shortfall resulted from a misclassification of revenue streams rather than any failure by the Service to remit funds.
The allegation originated from the Auditor-General’s 2019 audit report, which stated that of the ₦691.242 billion generated by the Nigeria Customs Service in 2017, only ₦629.23 billion was remitted to the Federation Account, leaving an alleged balance of ₦62.2 billion.
Presenting the query before the committee, a representative of the Auditor-General’s office, under the supervision of the committee chairman, Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, reiterated concerns over the purported revenue gap.
In his defence, Adeniyi maintained that the alleged under-remittance was based on an incorrect classification of certain categories of revenue collected by the Service.
According to him, while a substantial portion of Customs-generated revenues is required to be remitted to the Federation Account, some statutory levies are designated for other purposes and are therefore not payable into the account.
“The under-remittance of ₦62.2 billion levelled against Customs in the 2019 audit report was wrongly arrived at through misclassification of levies collected,” Adeniyi told the committee.
He explained that levies collected on certain locally produced commodities, including wheat, textiles and wines, are not remitted into the Federation Account and that the cumulative value of such collections accounted for the amount erroneously classified as unremitted revenue.
The Comptroller-General further provided detailed explanations on other audit queries raised against the Service, which committee members found satisfactory.
Following the submissions, members of the Senate committee accepted the clarifications and cleared the Nigeria Customs Service of the under-remittance allegation.
Reacting to the development, a member of the committee, Senator Babangida Hussaini, questioned why the matter had progressed to the level of a Senate investigation when it could have been resolved during the audit process.
Hussaini, a former civil servant, observed that the issues appeared to involve straightforward technical classifications that should have been addressed at the preliminary stage between auditors and the agency concerned.
The committee’s decision effectively brings to a close the long-standing query over the alleged ₦62.2 billion revenue shortfall and affirms the Nigeria Customs Service’s position that all applicable revenues were properly accounted for and remitted in line with existing financial regulations.