The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has strongly opposed the recently introduced 4% Customs Administration Charge on the Free on Board (FOB) value by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), describing it as an insensitive and ill-timed policy that will exacerbate economic hardships for Nigerians.
In a strongly worded statement, NECA’s Director-General, Mr. Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, decried the additional financial burden on businesses, warning that the levy would escalate production costs, fuel inflation, and lead to massive job losses.
“The Nigerian business environment is already weighed down by multiple taxes, erratic policies, and economic instability,” Oyerinde lamented. “With unsold inventories piling up and unemployment soaring, businesses need relief, not more strangulation.”
He criticized the Nigeria Customs Service for prioritizing revenue generation over trade facilitation, arguing that the move contradicts the government’s Ease of Doing Business agenda.
The NCS’s N10 trillion revenue target for 2025 has raised concerns that the new levy is merely a desperate attempt to meet projections at the expense of businesses and ordinary Nigerians.
NECA warns that while the government may generate more revenue, the unintended consequences will be disastrous, leading to soaring costs of goods, increased business closures, widespread job losses, rising inflation, and deeper poverty.
At a time when the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, led by Taiwo Oyedele, is working to harmonize and streamline taxes, Oyerinde argues that this levy undermines reform efforts and sends a negative signal to investors.
“Instead of supporting business sustainability, this charge will discourage investment, drive up production costs by 80%, and worsen Nigeria’s already fragile economy.”
With Nigeria’s annual imports valued at N71 trillion, this levy will add a staggering N2.84 trillion in extra costs. Industries dependent on imported raw materials will be hardest hit, further eroding competitiveness and worsening inflation.
ALSO READ: Gunmen abduct three interns in Ondo, demand N300m
NECA is now calling for an immediate reversal of the policy, urging the government to engage with stakeholders to find more sustainable and business-friendly ways to boost revenue.
“The government must ease the financial burden on businesses and citizens—not impose policies that stifle growth and deepen economic hardship.
“As pressure mounts, all eyes are on the federal government to see whether it will heed the warning or push forward with a policy that could further cripple the Nigerian economy,” Oyerinde added.
