By Abiodun Folarin
WorldStage— The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has expressed concern over the Federal Government’s implementation of an estimated N34 trillion in customs duty waivers in the 2025 financial year, arguing that the value of the waivers exceeded the N28.23 trillion revenue retained by the Federal Government during the same period.
In a statement signed by CSJ, Lead Director, Eze Onyekpere, he described the development as a major fiscal governance concern, questioning the rationale behind granting tax concessions on a scale larger than the government’s actual revenue amid rising budget deficits and increasing public debt.
The organisation recalled that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), while appearing before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, disclosed that it implemented customs duty waivers worth N34 trillion in 2025. According to the NCS, the waivers were not approved by the Service but were executed on the authority of the Minister of Finance in line with existing laws.
Following the disclosure, the House Committee requested details of the beneficiaries, the legal basis and the objectives of the waivers.
CSJ noted that customs duty waivers form part of the broader tax expenditure regime, which also includes tax holidays and exemptions granted to attract investments into strategic sectors of the economy. It argued that total tax expenditure for 2025 would likely exceed the N34 trillion customs duty waiver figure.
The group further observed that the Federal Government realised N28.23 trillion in consolidated revenue in 2025 against a budget target of N36.35 trillion, raising concerns over the sustainability of granting tax concessions that surpass government earnings.
“It is difficult to justify waiving more revenue than the government retains in an economy already burdened by high fiscal deficits and growing debt,” the organisation stated.
CSJ alleged that the waivers failed to comply with the provisions of Section 29(1) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), which requires every proposed tax expenditure to be accompanied by an evaluation of its budgetary and financial implications for the year of implementation and the following three years.
The Act also provides that such waivers should only be approved where they do not adversely affect projected government revenue or where countervailing revenue-enhancing measures, such as expanding the tax base or increasing tax rates, are put in place.
According to the organisation, there is no evidence that the required evaluations, countervailing measures or National Assembly approvals were undertaken before the implementation of the N34 trillion waivers.
CSJ also cited the Nigerian Tax Policy 2017, which requires that revenue forgone through tax incentives and concessions be quantified against actual benefits and reported annually.
The organisation questioned whether such annual reports had ever been produced, despite Nigeria’s long-standing practice of granting tax waivers.
It maintained that the country’s tax expenditure regime had been “mismanaged and abused,” arguing that no public official should wield unchecked powers to waive substantial public revenue while government borrowing continues to rise.
To strengthen fiscal discipline, CSJ called on the National Assembly to amend relevant laws to ensure that total tax expenditure does not exceed 10 per cent of the actual revenue realised in the preceding financial year.
It also recommended that all proposed tax expenditures be submitted alongside the annual Appropriation Bill for legislative approval and urged the National Assembly to intensify oversight to ensure strict compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
