Business
NAFDAC, Customs Agents Differ On Destination Inspection Of Goods
The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANCLA), Seme Border has said that destination examination of goods after customs’ clearance is unnecessary.
ANCLA Spokesman, Chief Mike Onwesu, said at a forum organised by the Nigeria Customs, Seme Border Command that destination examination delays the clearance of goods at the border.
The stakeholders’ forum was organised at the instance of Time Release Group, which visited the command to help in the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Service (ETLS) reform.
According to Onwesu, destination examination by NAFDAC and Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) was uncalled for.
“Apart from the delay ANCLA members and forwarders experience during Duty Tariff Inspection (DTI) and Global Scan, inspection by NAFDAC and SON after Customs inspection should be scrapped.
“These two outfits should be removed from the border post and send to foreign land to do pre-destination examination,” he said.
But Mr Stanley Atabor, NAFDAC’s Area Coordinator, Seme Border Post said that he was surprised that ANCLA was getting the mission of NAFDAC and other agencies wrong.
“NAFDAC is a government security agency which has the mandate to protect Nigerians against fake and substandard goods,” he said.
“NAFDAC is the National Health Police because it regulates goods coming into the country and ensures it does not have debilitating effects on the populace,” Atabor said.
According to him, the agents are only victims of their own antics because most times they are guilty of concealment of goods.
Credit to Nigeria’s private sector rose to N83.26 trillion in June 2026 from N81.04 trillion in May, signifying a positive balance of N2.22 trillion month-on-month.
Year-on-year, the figure represents a nine per cent increase compared with the N76.13 trillion recorded in June 2025. The latest figures come as the CBN continues to balance efforts to control inflation with the need to support economic growth and expand credit to businesses.
The CBN data shows that credit to Nigeria’s private sector increased by approximately 2.74 per cent month-on-month between May and June 2026. Also, the CBN data noted that credit to the government fell slightly to N40.03 trillion from N40.38 trillion. Other assets, net, dropped to N10.76 trillion from N12.63 trillion.
The credit surge signifies sustained growth in lending to businesses and other private-sector borrowers during the month. The rise in private sector credit was recorded alongside an increase in net domestic credit, despite declines in credit to government and other assets.
Further analysis of the report says that compared with June 2025, private sector credit rose by about N7.13 trillion yea-on-year but net domestic credit increased by approximately N1.87 trillion during the month.
The CBN’s relatively tight monetary policy stance notwithstanding, more banks still loaded funds to the private sector within the period. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) held its 306th meeting on July 20 and 21.
The Committee reviewed recent developments in the global and domestic economies, assessed emerging risks to the outlook and considered their implications for monetary policy and retained all rates.
The Committee decided to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5 per cent; the Standing Facilities Corridor around the MPR at +50/-450 basis points and retain the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks at 45.00 per cent, Merchant Banks at 16.00 per cent, and non-TSA public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent.
The MPC decision means that credit extension in the private sector will likely continue to rise because of rising confidence in the sector and calls by stakeholders for banks to invest in the private scetor instead of government securities.
