Section 7: Information and documents to be confidential

(1)
Without prejudice to the provisions of any other Act concerning official secrets, all information and documents supplied or produced in pursuance of any requirement of the customs and excise laws shall be and shall be treated as confidential, and if any person who is or has been a member of the Board or who is or has been employed in the Ministry communicates or attempts to communicate any such information or the contents
of any such document to any person except-
[L.N. 139 of 1965.]
(a) for the purposes of the customs and excise laws; or
(b) as required by any other enactment; or
(c)
as otherwise authorised by the Minister,
he shall be liable to a fine of two hundred naira or to imprisonment for six months, or to both.
(2)
Any proceedings for an offence under this section may be taken by or in the name of the Comptroller-General but not by any other person, except with the consent of the Attorney-General of the Federation.
[1975 No. 41.]
(3)
A person who is or has been a member of the Board or who is or has been employed in the Ministry may, except with the consent of the Minister, be required to divulge to any court any such information or to produce in any court any such document as is referred to in subsection (1) of this section, except as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying into effect any provision of the customs and excise laws or in order to institute a prosecution or other legal proceedings, or in the course of a prosecution or other legal proceedings, under the customs and excise laws.