By Eniola Idris
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has insisted that Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) must pay duties on items imported into the country, noting that they were not exempted from such payments.
NCS, in a statement issued by the Deputy National Public Relation Officers, DC, Timi Bomodi, Friday said only items imported by the President, Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is exempted from the payment of duty or taxes, therefore no MDA should evade duty in the name of waiver.
He said: “The attention of the Nigeria Customs Service has been drawn to a trend noticed in the activities of certain Ministries, Departments and Agencies with regards to their import of vehicles and other equipments.
“The NCS wishes to state that except where waivers and, or concessions were sought and granted, all outstanding duties and taxes relating to such imports are expected to be paid in full. This applies even in situations where these imports were executed by agents or proxies on their behalf.
“We wish to reiterate that by law, only items imported by the President, Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is exempted from the payment of duty or taxes.
“The NCS is therefore by this notice sensitising MDAs, and advising them on the need to adhere strictly with import guidelines in this regard.
“Contractors who import and supply such equipment or vehicles without payment of duties should also be aware that they will be considered liable as fraudulent importers in such circumstance.
“We urge them to avail themselves of our trade facilitation tools available on and offline. This is necessary to avoid embarrassments in future,” Bomodi said.
