The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adeniyi, has revealed that Nigeria lost N34 trillion to import duty waivers in 2025 — a sum equivalent to 61 percent of the country’s budget for that year.

Adeniyi disclosed during an investigative hearing before the Senate Committee on Finance on Monday. He stated that duty exemption certificate approvals granted by the federal government on imported goods and equipment had significantly drained the nation’s revenue.

According to the Customs chief, while the waivers were part of the government’s fiscal measures, they came with both positive and negative effects on the service’s ability to generate revenue.

He explained that about 60 percent of the N34 trillion in waivers was linked to military hardware procurements, justified by Nigeria’s ongoing security challenges. Other approved exemptions covered the importation of compressed natural gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programs.

For context, the Nigeria Customs Service generated N7.28 trillion in revenue for the same year.