The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adeniyi, announced that the service will begin implementing the duty waiver on imported foods within a week.
He made this announcement on Tuesday in Abuja during a joint press conference held by security agency heads and Service Chiefs, convened by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, at the Defence Headquarters.
Adeniyi explained that the guidelines for implementation are still being finalized by the Ministry of Finance, and the waiver will take effect as soon as the guidelines are ready.
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He urged Nigerians to be patient, emphasizing that efforts are ongoing to address the concerns of protesters, particularly regarding food inflation and the cost of living.
This follows President Bola Tinubu’s directive to suspend import duties and taxes on essential foodstuffs to help reduce inflation.
“I like to let Nigerians know that there has been a lot that is going on to address these issues that are related to ameliorating this situation.
“This is through a mixture of fiscal policies of government and a number of strategic interventions from the government.
“The Federal Government’s effort as part of intervention is the distribution of strategic food items which was released from the national grain reserves about a month ago.
“This was released to all states of the federation. We also recall that a number of the food items that are consumed in Nigeria are imported.
“Better parts of the components are imported and importations are not done of the shelf, it takes some time before they are done.
“So, one of the things that the president has done is to reduce the cost, to push on the effects of the cost inflation by suspending customs duties and taxes on imported food items for a period of time.
“We believe that when this is implemented, it will help to bring down the price of food items in the market”.
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He stated that the Nigeria Customs Service is fully committed to implementing this fiscal policy as outlined by the government.
“But I also like to remind Nigerians that we need to be very, very careful in implementation of this and this is why the guidelines for implementation is being meticulously worked out at the Ministry of Finance,” he said.
Adeniyi emphasized the importance of understanding the implications of this intervention for local markets, noting that the government is working to address the interests of all stakeholders.
He added that many of the food items benefiting from duty waivers and concessions are also cultivated by Nigerian farmers, making it essential to balance these interests.
“There is the issue of striking a balance between the long term interest of Nigerian farmers and stakeholders who are involved in the production of these items and the short term interest of addressing food inflation.
He added: “So the guidelines are being worked out at the Ministry of Finance and I can assure you that within the next one week these guidelines will be ready and Nigeria customs will begin implementation of these particular fiscal policies,”.
