Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adewale Adeniyi yesterday said the country lost a total of N34.538 trillion in revenue last year to huge volume of trade covered by Import Duty Exemption Certificates, Value Added Tax (VAT) order and schedule 2 of the Customs External Tariff (CET).

Defending the Service’s 2026 budget before the House Committee on Customs and Excise, Adewale said out of the total loss, petroleum products accounted for 56.40 per cent, military imports accounted for 40.52 per cent while the Import Duty Exemption Certificates (IDEC) accounted for 3.08 per cent of the total revenue conceded by the service with the year.

The budget set an ambitious revenue target of N11.074 trillion for the 2026 fiscal year, nearly double its 2025 target of N6.584 trillion, after exceeding last year’s revenue projection by N674 billion.

He said even though the service collected N7.277 trillion as revenue during the year (up from the N6.584 trillion target), various factors worked against increasing the revenue.

He said while the excise duty on telecoms services was introduced in 2023, it remained suspended and automatically reduced the revenue performance of the service by 3.43 per cent, while the green tax also introduced in 2023 aimed at enhancing revenue drive remained suspended throughout 2025.

He further explained that government fiscal policy measures on the increase of local production of healthcare goods, constrained the service from collecting import duty and VAT on importation of healthcare products, while the Presidential initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles also scaled down the collection of revenue from importation of such goods in 2025.

Adeniyi said further that only four out of the 11 exciseable goods provided for in schedule 5 of the CET remained under excise control, bringing the performance of the excise sector below its potential as well as the expected performance on the target.

The Comptroller-General said despite a revenue target of over N11 trillion for the 2026 fiscal year, the government has approved the reduction of tariff on imported vehicles with effect from May 2026.

He said the government reduced tariff on the importation of used vehicles from 15 per cent to five per cent, while import tariff on new vehicles has been reduced from 20 per cent to 10 per cent.

The Customs boss said the agency has put in place some strategies aimed at achieving the revenue goals of the 2926 budget, including leveraging technology, adding that the Unified Customs Information System popularly known as B’Odogwu has fully taken off and is working perfectly and is expected to enhance revenue collection of the service in 2026.

He said further that one of the key mechanisms adopted by the service in line with global best practices is the Risk Management and Audit tools to curb tax evasions. Essentially, the Post Clearance Audit Units of the Service has undergone notable reforms to strengthen revenue recoveries.

On trade facilitation, the Customs CG said “the adoption of authorised economic operator and advanced rulings programme will boost trade facilitation drive, enhance the release time of goods, improve the turnover time of import and export and increase revenue generation as well.

He also disclosed that pursuant to the Service’s initiative on effective border management and prevention of revenue leakages across the national borders, geospatial technology has been adopted to provide effective surveillance in addition to existing joint border patrol.

Adeniyi also said the new excise tariff regime conveyed through the 2026 fiscal policy measures will boost excise revenue collection, while the reintroduction of the green tax stands as an added advantage to the Service’s revenue collection in 2026.

He however sought the support of the House to approve a budget of N1.235 trillion for the operations of the service for the 2026 fiscal year, adding that the service intends to pay more attention to the completion of ongoing projects in the 2026 budget of the agency.

Chairman of the House Committee on Customs and Excise, Leke Abejide said the budget defence session was in line with the provisions of the constitution mandating the parliament to appropriate funds for government agencies.

He commended the Customs management for the efforts they have made in repositioning the service for effective performance.

Adeniyi said the service generated N7.277 trillion in 2025 against the projected N6.584 trillion, representing a positive variance of about 10.24 per cent.

He also revealed that out of the projected N11.074 trillion revenue target for this year, the service had already realised N4.43 trillion as of May 31.

According to him, the NCS has proposed an expenditure budget of N1.235 trillion for 2026, comprising N421 billion for personnel costs, N307 billion for overheads and N565 billion for capital projects.

The Customs boss noted that the agency could have generated more revenue in 2025 but for certain government policies, including tariff concessions on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and electric vehicles, as well as the delayed implementation of the Green Tax.

“In 2026, despite the major elephant in the room, which is the crisis in the Middle East, Customs is determined to achieve its revenue target of N11.074 trillion and even surpass it,” he said.

The Senate and House Committees on Customs commended President Bola Tinubu for extending Adeniyi’s tenure as Comptroller-General by six months.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Customs, Senator Jibrin Isah, congratulated the Customs chief on the extension and lauded the reforms introduced under his leadership.

“Customs under your leadership has been transformed through a series of revenue-generating reforms, improved anti-smuggling measures, enhanced trade facilitation and the provision of critical infrastructure to promote ease of doing business,” he said.

He urged the service to intensify efforts towards meeting its 2026 revenue projections.

The committee subsequently approved the 2026 budget proposal of the Nigeria Customs Service through a voice vote by members present at the session. (The Nation)

Update news