EndHungerProtests:Food Importers Say Nigerian Customs Service Snubs Executive Order on Suspension of Tariffs on Food Items, NACCIMA DG Sues for Fast Track of Implementation Processes

By: Olufemi Orunsola 

The Importers Association of Nigeria has raised an alarm that despite President Bola Tinubu’s executive order suspending import duties and tariffs on food items, the Nigerian Customs Service still collects import duties on imported food items with impunity.

Chairman of IMAN in Nigeria’s Northern region, Aminu Dan-Iya, disclosed this on Monday, stating that as long as the President's executive order is being flagrantly disobeyed by the Nigerian Customs Service, the hunger in the land will continue to escalate.

According to the Importers' Chairman, “Customs officials tell our members at entry points that they don’t have any written communication about the suspension," hence, " nothing has changed; we’re paying duties as usual.” 

Mr. Dan-Iya said "IMAN cannot understand why such a crucial presidential order had yet to be implemented, though it has been officially announced even before the end hunger protests yet it is not been implemented."

Worried if there is another cabal bent on keeping Nigerians in perpetual state of hunger, Dan Iya further said; “As a matter of fact, people are outraged, asking to know why prices of food and other commodities keep skyrocketing despite removal of taxes. The truth is that something is fundamentally wrong somewhere because we cannot fathom why such a crucial presidential order is yet to be implemented."

OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News recalls that earlier in July, President Tinubu announced suspension of import duties on essential food items such as rice, wheat, maize sorghum, etc, as one of the strategies to stem the widespread hunger in the Nigeria.

OTN News also recalls that the Customs Comptroller General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, in a video posted on social media some days after the President's Executive Order, had said that the Nigerian Customs will implement the executive order.

An importer who spoke with OTN News, pleading anonymity, reveals that it is inconceivable that more than a month after the executive order episode, real stakeholders in the food importation sectors are aware that nothing has changed after the executive order by the President which he described as a "mere audio money not backed up with corresponding purchasing power".

OTN News recalls that the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service was earlier quoted to have admitted, in a video that circulated on X Twitter that;“Global inflation is impacting nations worldwide, including Nigeria. To address this, the federal government through the Nigeria Customs Service is suspending import duties and taxes on essential food items to make them more affordable".

He equally gave Nigerians assurances of compliance with the President's directive saying;“We’re committed to implementing this measure seamlessly to address the problem of hunger in our nation. We have streamlined export processes to ensure Nigerian goods reach international markets efficiently.”

Efforts by OTN News Naija to contact the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service as well as leaders of the Importers' Association of Nigeria in other parts of the country to know if the Nigerian Customs Service levies them Tariffs on importation of food items did not yield results as at the time of filing this report.

However, in a telephone interview with the Director General (DG), Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr.Sola Obadimu, told OTN News that following the executive order by the President, the Nigerian Customs Service will be left with no option but to comply and endure swift implementation of the order on suspension of tariff on importation of target food items provided that the necessary documentations to back up the executive order are swiftly communicated to the concerned agency of government.

Obadimu also stated that "while the suspension of Tariffs on importation of target food items is indeed a strategic intervention by the federal government, fast tracking processes on its implementation is the key to delivering the gains of the policy to importers in the business community (which he represents) and invariably, to the larger society."

The NACCIMA DG therefore calls on the Presidency to urgently beam monitoring searchlight on the policy implementation processes required to ensure the operational compliance of the Nigerian Customs Service to the executive order to ease the pains and pangs of hunger in the land.

In all, OTN News pleads with the federal government to swiftly review the activities of the Nigerian Customs Service to monitor compliance with the life-saving strategic policy intervention on removal of Tariffs on importation of food items as the move could go a long way to douce the tension building up across the country as a result of pervasive hunger.