Nigeria lost revenue worth N4.61 trillion in two years due to the non-implementation of the Import Duty Exemption Certificate portal.
This disclosure was made by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed in Abuja, who recently received the full Business Case Certificate of Compliance for the Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC) project from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).
While giving the breakdown of the lost revenue in the Federal Capital Territory, the minister stated that the sum of N2.5 trillion was lost in 2017, while the balance of N2.1 trillion was also lost in the 2018 fiscal period.
An earlier report has indicated that Nigeria loses an estimated N1bn on a weekly basis and N52bn annually on illegal importation of iron and steel products.
The certificate of compliance was presented to the Minister by the Director- General/CEO of ICRC, Engr Chidi Izuwah (Snr). Earlier, in his opening remark, Izuwah noted that the IDEC project is a very laudable one, which has the potential to enable the country cut down the huge revenue losses.
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The Finance Minister acknowledged that over the years, the country has been experiencing a significant drain in revenues due to the inability to adequately control the IDEC process. Hence, IDEC would aid in blocking leakage coming from imports.
‘The portal will help us control. It will help us to be able to track and monitor the IDEC that we issue, but also to monitor the performance of the companies that we give this IDEC to and we will also be able to interface the IDEC system with the Nigeria customs service.”
According to the statement made available by the Ministry of Finance via its Twitter handle, the portal is expected to assist in blocking revenue leakages to the tune of N2 trillion. The Minister stated that this will not only help to track and monitor the IDEC being issued but also monitor the performance of the companies that receive IDEC and interface the IDEC system with the Nigeria Customs Service.
While calling for full implementation of the project, Ahmed disclosed that her Ministry would secure Federal Executive Council’s (FEC) approval before Public Private Partnership (PPP) aspect of the project commences. She also assured that her Ministry will take advantage of the IDEC portal and put it into full use to enable the Federal Government get full value for its revenues.
“It’s really a good time for me that this project that I was really particular about since I came on board is coming to fruition.”
Source: Nairametrics
Samson Oyedeyi
