Senate Public Accounts Committee Vacates N62.2 Billion Audit Query Against Nigeria Customs Service

The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has officially cleared the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) of an alleged N62.2 billion financial infraction. The legislative resolution was reached during an intensive investigative hearing in Abuja on Tuesday, where the committee vacated the long-standing query following detailed financial breakdowns and structural explanations presented by the management of the apex border-enforcement agency.

The financial discrepancy originally stemmed from a comprehensive 2019 audit report compiled by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation. The query highlighted that while the Customs Service recorded a total revenue collection of N691.24 billion, only N629.23 billion was actively remitted into the Federation Account, creating an apparent under-remittance of N62.2 billion.

Reconciliation of the Misclassified Levies

The Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, successfully defended the agency by demonstrating that the unremitted billions were never legally bound for the Federation Account in the first place. Adeniyi clarified that the contested balance was entirely the result of an administrative misclassification of funds by auditors. The money actually consisted of various specialized levies collected by Customs on behalf of other distinct government parastatals, requiring separate institutional routing rather than a direct treasury deposit.

Accepting the defense, the Senate Committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe North), formally dropped the N62.2 billion infraction from the active legislative ledger. Given that the broader legislative probe spans 77 distinct queries across the 2019 and 2020 audit cycles, the committee has resolved to constitute a specialized sub-panel to expedite and systematically reconcile all remaining minor accounting issues with Customs representatives.