Senate Clears Nigeria Customs of N62.2bn Audit Query

Nigeria's Senate Public Accounts Committee has cleared the Nigeria Customs Service of wrongdoing related to a N62.2 billion fund discrepancy identified in a 2019 audit report by the Auditor General's office. The committee reached this decision following an investigative session on Tuesday, during which Customs Comptroller General Bashir Adewale Adeniyi presented explanations to lawmakers.

According to the committee's findings, the funds in question had been misclassified and were not intended for remittance to the federal account. The Customs Service had collected N691.242 billion in total revenue in 2017, remitting N629.23 billion and leaving a balance of N62.2 billion.

The committee determined that this remaining amount consisted of collections made on behalf of government agencies and therefore did not require federal account remittance. The clearance of the N62.2 billion query represents one resolution from a broader audit examination.

The Customs Service faced 77 separate queries and financial infractions raised across the 2019 and 2020 audit reports. During the session, the comptroller general provided responses to most of the queries presented by the auditor general's representatives.

Senate Public Accounts Committee chairman Ibrahim Dankwambo announced that a reconciliation subcommittee would be established to address the remaining 74 unresolved queries. This subcommittee will comprise representatives from the Senate panel, the Auditor General's office, and the Nigeria Customs Service to work toward resolving outstanding audit issues.