The House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise has raised alarm over the diversion of imported finished goods to Free Trade Zones (FTZs), describing the act as a major economic sabotage that allegedly cost the nation over N1.5 trillion in lost revenue within one year.

Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Leke Abejide, disclosed this on Friday during an oversight visit to the Lekki Free Trade Zone Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

He accused some licensed clearing and forwarding agents of colluding with corrupt officials within the Nigeria Customs Service and other government agencies to perpetrate the illegal activity, which he said was designed to evade the payment of statutory import duties.

Abejide stated that the trend has become rampant and damaging to the nation’s economy, vowing that the Committee would not rest until all those involved are brought to book and made to refund the stolen revenues, even if it means tracing transactions up to five years back.

He said: “It was so bad that in one of the Free Trade Zones that I don’t want to mention because I don’t want them to run away—we know them and we will go back as far as five years and recover these trillions from them.

“They take advantage of the law, which permits duty payment within three months after production. But what they do is sell the goods first without paying any duty. Honourable colleagues, this is a serious issue. Over N1.5 trillion was lost just last year due to this practice.

“We are already working on a system to trace and recover these losses. They think they’ve gotten away with it for five years, but we will go after them. They must return what they have stolen.

“We are aware of the tactic whereby they bring in finished goods disguised as raw materials and later divert them to the market without paying appropriate duties. We believe this is happening in several places, including here.”

During a visit to the DUFIL Prima Packaging factory located within the Lekki Free Trade Zone, the lawmaker also revealed that the House would initiate an amendment to the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) Act.

According to him, the proposed amendment aims to block the loopholes in the current law that have been exploited by companies and individuals to shortchange the government of legitimate revenues.

He maintained that the National Assembly is committed to ensuring transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s trade and customs processes, adding that such economic sabotage must not be allowed to continue unchecked.