Senate approves customs’ N11.07tn 2026 revenue target

…clears N1.295tn buddget

The Senate on Wednesday approved the 2026 budget proposal of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), endorsing a revenue target of N11.074 trillion alongside a proposed expenditure of N1.295 trillion for the 2026 fiscal year.

The approval followed the adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs presented during plenary.

Presenting the report, Isah Jibrin, Chairman of the Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs, said the panel scrutinised the Service’s 2025 budget implementation before considering its 2026 estimates.

He disclosed that the NCS exceeded its 2025 revenue target of N6.5 trillion, generating about N7.2 trillion, representing a performance rate of 110.53 per cent.

Jibrin, however, noted that revenue could have been higher but for several factors, including the suspension of excise duty on telecommunications services, government policies promoting local production of healthcare products, and disruptions to global trade arising from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which affected imports, especially wheat.

On budget implementation, he said that although the Service had an approved 2025 budget of about N1.132 trillion, actual expenditure stood at N591 billion.

He attributed the low capital budget utilisation to delays in approvals by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the Federal Executive Council (FEC), resulting in the rollover of several projects into the 2026 fiscal year.

According to Jibrin, the Service plans to realise its 2026 revenue target through wider deployment of technology, stronger revenue recovery measures, real-time audit systems, improved trade facilitation and more aggressive anti-smuggling operations.

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He further explained that the proposed N1.295 trillion expenditure comprises N421 billion for personnel costs, N307 billion for overheads and N565 billion for capital projects, with the bulk of the funding expected from the statutory four per cent Free on Board (FOB) levy provided under the Nigerian Customs Service Act, 2023.

The committee consequently recommended Senate approval of both the proposed revenue target and expenditure estimates for the 2026 fiscal year.

Contributing to the debate, Senator Barau Jibrin, Deputy Senate President, described the committee’s report as comprehensive and applauded the Comptroller-General of Customs and the entire workforce for their performance.

He said the agency’s impressive revenue generation vindicated President Bola Tinubu’s decision to extend the tenure of the Comptroller-General.

“You have an entity that budgeted to generate about N6.5 trillion but ended up generating N7.2 trillion. That is a wonderful performance and we cannot commend the Comptroller-General and his team enough.”

Barau also observed that despite the increase in revenue generation, the agency spent only N591 billion in 2025, with a significant proportion directed to capital projects rather than recurrent expenses.

He added that the Service’s projection of generating more than N11 trillion in 2026 reflected confidence in the reforms and innovations introduced by its leadership.

“For an agency to propose generating N11 trillion and spending only N1.2 trillion to run its operations shows remarkable fiscal discipline. This is an institution Nigerians should be proud of.”

According to him, the budget structure, which allocates more resources to capital projects than overhead costs, demonstrates prudent financial management that is uncommon in many public institutions.

Following the committee’s recommendations, Godswill Akpabio, Senate President, put the proposals to a voice vote, with lawmakers unanimously approving both the revenue target and expenditure estimates.

Akpabio commended the Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs for its detailed examination of the budget proposal and congratulated the leadership of the Nigerian Customs Service on its performance.

He also appreciated senators for their contributions, expressing optimism that the approved budget would strengthen the operations of the Service and boost revenue generation for the Federal Government.