President Bola Tinubu has directed the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to return food items that were confiscated at border communities to owners on the condition that they would be sold in the Nigerian markets to boost food sufficiency.
This was disclosed Saturday by the Comptroller General of the NCS, Adewale Adeniyi, during an interface with residents of border communities in Kongolam and Mai’Adua border stations.
Mr Adeniyi hinted that the president has decided to exercise his power “according to the feelings of magnanimity that he has for Nigeria”, contrary to what the law stipulates.
“In doing so, he has directed that those food items that were going out of the country that have been seized in various border areas should be returned to the owners on the condition that those goods would be sold in the Nigerian markets,” the official said.
He explained that they will be monitoring the situation to know if there is a violation of this condition.
“Those food items will be returned, and it is a directive that we will pass them back into the Nigerian markets,” Mr Adeniyi said.
He explained that Nigeria is in an emergency food situation and that the NCS will continue to take proactive measures to tackle the exportation of food items to curb food insufficiency.
Export prohibition act
The consolidated version of Nigeria’s Export Prohibition Act prohibits the exportation of certain goods ( food commodities ) specified in the Schedule to the Act, likewise, anything contained in the Customs Excise Tariff Act or any Act or other enactment notwithstanding.
The scheduled goods under the act include beans, cassava tuber, maize, rice, Yam tuber, all products or derivatives of these products, and all imported food items.
“Any person who takes, causes to be taken, induces any other person to take or attempts to take out of Nigeria any of the goods specified in the Schedule to this Act shall be guilty of an offence,” the act partly reads.
The directive is coming at a time when customs officials are alleged to be found guilty of conniving with smugglers at the expense of national security.
PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported how some high-ranking officials of the service were arrested and detained for days when the EFCC traced about N12 billion proceeds of bribes from smugglers to them.
On Saturday, the Customs boss emphasised the provision of the act, adding that the law would be reviewed when the nation is self-sufficient.
He added that the Customs Service will continue to monitor to ensure that food items produced in the country remain in Nigeria and are consumed by Nigerians to tame food inflation.
“We know that there are markets around our borders and we know that not all of them are targeted at taking goods across the borders. We will continue to monitor and ensure that food that is produced in Nigeria remains and is consumed in Nigeria,” he said.
He explained that since Nigeria is in a period of national emergency that has to do with food insufficiency, agencies must collectively work together to assist the government in enforcing the various laws that prohibit the exportation of food items at this time.
“There is an Export Prohibition Act which currently disallows the exportation of food items like maize, rice, beans, yam, millet and sorghum. Food security is very, very important. If our people are in hunger, they can be lured into certain criminal activities,” he said.
Mr Adeniyi urged residents of the border communities to assist the government in implementing the various rules that prohibit the exports of food items and other essential commodities.
Legal Insight
Reacting to the President’s directive, an Abuja-based legal practitioner at Amofin Solicitors, Kazeem Oyinwola, said certain rights can be suspended, restricted, or limited in line with the president’s declaration of a state of emergency on agriculture in July 2023.
In addition to this, he said the state may feel compelled to depart from standard human rights protections during emergencies to the extent permitted by law.
“A combined reading of sections 16(1) and (2) and section 17(2), the President may be right to issue a directive for the release of the goods/food items seized by the custom on the condition that such goods be sold at the Nigerian market to cushion the effect of the current food crisis if he believes or it is evident that in doing so, it will be in line with the fundamental objective and directive principles of state policy,” he said.
After all, Mr Oyinwola said Section 13 of the constitution compels the government to comply with the fundamental objective and directive principles of state policy.
He argued that it may not be illegal or unconstitutional for the president to issue such a directive at a time like this.
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