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SERAP urges NASS to stop Buhari from selling Govt assets

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Customs surpasses Q1 target, tackles smuggling, boosts trade facilitation measures This is cherry news for those in power, as the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) announced that it raked in a princely sum of ₦1.75 trillion in revenue during the first quarter of 2025. This figure, according to NCS, surpassed its quarterly target by ₦106.5 billion and marking a 29.96 per cent increase over Q1 2024. The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this on Tuesday, 22 April 2025, at a press briefing held at the Service Headquarters in Abuja. “These results substantiate our effective measures to curb revenue losses while streamlining compliant trade,” Adeniyi stated. “The 29.96 per cent annual increase and steady monthly collections confirm our strategy is working.” According to the CGC, January recorded the highest monthly collection at ₦647.88 billion, exceeding its target by 18.12 per cent and reflecting a 65.77 per cent increase compared to last year. February and March also recorded impressive performances, surpassing their targets and continuing the positive trend. In enforcement, the Service made 298 seizures worth ₦7.7 billion in Duty Paid Value (DPV). Items seized included 135,474 bags of rice, 65,819 litres of petroleum products, ₦730 million worth of narcotics, and wildlife products with a DPV of ₦5.6 billion. “From rice to wildlife, these seizures demonstrate our targeted approach,” the CGC said. “We remain committed to refining our enforcement strategies through intelligence-led operations, technological advancement, and strengthened inter-agency cooperation.” The Service also processed 327,928 import declarations—a 5.28 per cent increase over Q1 2024—representing goods with a total mass of nearly five billion kilograms and a CIF value of ₦14.8 trillion. Though export declarations decreased, export volumes surged by 348 per cent, indicating a shift towards bulk shipments. “This data clearly suggests Nigeria’s accelerating move towards bulk commodity exports,” Adeniyi noted, “while maintaining consistent total export value—reflecting both changing trade patterns and improved processing efficiency.” Highlighting key modernisation milestones, the CGC announced the continued roll-out of the locally developed B’Odogwu customs clearance platform and the launch of the Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) Programme, which provides expedited processing and reduced inspections for compliant traders. The Service also launched its Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, Customs Cares, supporting education, healthcare, and social welfare in communities nationwide. “Customs Cares represents a structured, scalable approach to community development—transforming corporate responsibility into tangible improvements,” the Customs Boss said. On food security, the CGC highlighted the Service’s role in implementing duty waivers on key staples, contributing to lower food prices nationwide. “This combination of current and past exemptions helps explain the steady improvement in food affordability. The benefits of duty relief emerge gradually but accumulate to make food more affordable,” he stated. Despite these achievements, challenges remain. The CGC pointed to exchange rate volatility, 62 recorded changes during the quarter, and ongoing non-compliance issues, particularly smuggling. “We continue to adapt our strategies to combat increasingly sophisticated smuggling networks,” he said. Looking ahead, the CGC reaffirmed the Service’s strategic focus on modernisation and enhanced service delivery. “We’re not just collecting figures—we’re shaping the future of trade and security in Nigeria,” he concluded. “The numbers show we’re delivering.”

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the National Assembly to stop President Muhammadu Buhari from selling government properties to fund the 2021 budget.

SERAP in a statement issued on Sunday signed by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare urged both leadership of the National Assembly, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, and the Speaker of House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila to bar the President from carrying out such moves via a letter addressed on January 16.

SERAP wants the leadership of the National Assembly to “urgently review the 2021 appropriation legislation to stop the government of President Muhammadu Buhari from selling public properties to fund the 2021 budget, and to identify areas in the budget to cut such as salaries and allowances for members and the Presidency to make sayings to address the growing level of deficit and borrowing.

“The National Assembly has a constitutional and oversight responsibility to protect valuable public properties and to ensure responsible budget spending. Allowing the government to sell public properties, and to enjoy almost absolute discretion to borrow to fund the 2021 budget would amount to a fundamental breach of constitutional and fiduciary duties.”

The group warned that selling valuable public properties to fund the 2021 budget would be counter-productive, adding “this would be vulnerable to corruption and mismanagement. It would undermine the social contract with Nigerians, leave the government worse off, and hurt the country in the long run. It is neither necessary nor in the public interest.”

The organisation also called for a change in the country’s fiscal situation through some combination of cuts in spending on salaries and allowances, and a freeze on spending in certain areas of the budget such as hardship and furniture allowances, entertainment allowances, international travels, and buying of motor vehicles and utilities for members and the Presidency.

On borrowing of loans, SERAP also asked the parliament “to stop approving loan requests by the Federal Government if it continues to fail to demonstrate transparency and accountability in the spending of the loans so far obtained.”

“We would consider the option of pursuing legal action to stop the Federal Government from selling public properties, and we may join the National Assembly in any such suit.

“The budget deficit and debt problems threaten Nigerians’ access to essential public goods and services and will hurt future generations. If not urgently addressed, the deficit and debt problems would seriously undermine access to public goods and services for the country’s poorest and most vulnerable people who continue to endure the grimmest of conditions.

“Our requests are brought in the public interest, and in keeping with the requirements of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the country’s international human rights obligations including under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Nigeria has ratified both human rights treaties,” the statement added.

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Customs surpasses Q1 target, tackles smuggling, boosts trade facilitation measures This is cherry news for those in power, as the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) announced that it raked in a princely sum of ₦1.75 trillion in revenue during the first quarter of 2025. This figure, according to NCS, surpassed its quarterly target by ₦106.5 billion and marking a 29.96 per cent increase over Q1 2024. The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this on Tuesday, 22 April 2025, at a press briefing held at the Service Headquarters in Abuja. “These results substantiate our effective measures to curb revenue losses while streamlining compliant trade,” Adeniyi stated. “The 29.96 per cent annual increase and steady monthly collections confirm our strategy is working.” According to the CGC, January recorded the highest monthly collection at ₦647.88 billion, exceeding its target by 18.12 per cent and reflecting a 65.77 per cent increase compared to last year. February and March also recorded impressive performances, surpassing their targets and continuing the positive trend. In enforcement, the Service made 298 seizures worth ₦7.7 billion in Duty Paid Value (DPV). Items seized included 135,474 bags of rice, 65,819 litres of petroleum products, ₦730 million worth of narcotics, and wildlife products with a DPV of ₦5.6 billion. “From rice to wildlife, these seizures demonstrate our targeted approach,” the CGC said. “We remain committed to refining our enforcement strategies through intelligence-led operations, technological advancement, and strengthened inter-agency cooperation.” The Service also processed 327,928 import declarations—a 5.28 per cent increase over Q1 2024—representing goods with a total mass of nearly five billion kilograms and a CIF value of ₦14.8 trillion. Though export declarations decreased, export volumes surged by 348 per cent, indicating a shift towards bulk shipments. “This data clearly suggests Nigeria’s accelerating move towards bulk commodity exports,” Adeniyi noted, “while maintaining consistent total export value—reflecting both changing trade patterns and improved processing efficiency.” Highlighting key modernisation milestones, the CGC announced the continued roll-out of the locally developed B’Odogwu customs clearance platform and the launch of the Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) Programme, which provides expedited processing and reduced inspections for compliant traders. The Service also launched its Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, Customs Cares, supporting education, healthcare, and social welfare in communities nationwide. “Customs Cares represents a structured, scalable approach to community development—transforming corporate responsibility into tangible improvements,” the Customs Boss said. On food security, the CGC highlighted the Service’s role in implementing duty waivers on key staples, contributing to lower food prices nationwide. “This combination of current and past exemptions helps explain the steady improvement in food affordability. The benefits of duty relief emerge gradually but accumulate to make food more affordable,” he stated. Despite these achievements, challenges remain. The CGC pointed to exchange rate volatility, 62 recorded changes during the quarter, and ongoing non-compliance issues, particularly smuggling. “We continue to adapt our strategies to combat increasingly sophisticated smuggling networks,” he said. Looking ahead, the CGC reaffirmed the Service’s strategic focus on modernisation and enhanced service delivery. “We’re not just collecting figures—we’re shaping the future of trade and security in Nigeria,” he concluded. “The numbers show we’re delivering.”