Reps Committee Condemn Sharp Practices By Free Trade Zone Company Operators
The House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise has observed that most companies operating in the Free Trade Zones in the country were involved in sharp practices leading to loss of several billions of Naira in revenue to the government.
... Promises to recover lost revenue
The House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise has observed that most companies operating in the Free Trade Zones in the country were involved in sharp practices leading to loss of several billions of Naira in revenue to the government.
Chairman of the Committee, Leke Abejide, ADC, Kogi, spoke during an oversight visit to the Zone Eight of the Command,
comprising Kano/Jigawa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service.
According to Abejide, companies operating in the free zone were supposed to sell only 25 perfect of their products in the local market while exporting 75 percent to generate foreign exchange for the country, but they were not obeying the rules.
Abejide further notes that by the law establishing the free trade zones, they were supposed to import their raw materials duty free and produce for export, adding that any of such companies that wants to sell their goods locally would be required to pay duty on the imported raw materials on such manufactured products.
This was even as the Comptroller of the Kano/Jigawa Command, Abubakar Dalhat said it generated over ₦10 billion between January and June 2025, as against about ₦1 billion it generated within the same period of 2024.
Dalhat further said that while some of the companies operating in the free zones have resorted to bringing finished products into the area instead of raw materials, others had resorted to selling their manufactured products 100 percent in the local market rather than exporting majority of them.
According to him, the sharp increase in revenue from the Kano Free Trade Zone within six months indicated that when adequate measures were taken, the country would gain a lot in terms of revenue generation.
Dalhat further informed the lawmakers that the command siezed about 1,662,300 dollars, 441,050 Saudi Riyals, 560,000 CFA Franc, 200 Euros, 5,825 Pounds Sterling's among other foreign currencies in three separate operations at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport between January and June 2025, pointing out that
about ₦18.439 million from. Baggage operation, ₦1.173 billion from the Maugatari border post, ₦10.824 billion from the Kano Free Trade Zone and N3. 070 billion from excise operation within the first six months of the year.
He also, noted that, the command siezed 17 cartons kf camera drones, 16,082 cartons of foreign spagetti, 582 bales of smuggled used clothes, 491,100 tablets of tramadol, 172 parcels of cannabis sativa, 1430 cartons of banned paraquat herbicides among others within the same period.
The Head of the Office in the Kano Free Trade Zone, Richard Bassey told the lawmakers that the zone had so far attracted about 2.2 billion dollars in Direct Foreign Investment, with about 45 foreign investments in the area.
What's Your Reaction?
