The Senate has approved a ₦11 trillion revenue target for the Nigeria Customs Service for the 2026 fiscal year, following the agency’s budget defence session before the Senate Committee on Customs.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Customs, Senator Isah Jibril, made the declaration during a budget defence session with officials of the Nigeria Customs Service led by the Comptroller-General, Adewale Adeniyi, on Monday.
Speaking during the session, Adeniyi expressed optimism that the agency would meet the ambitious target despite prevailing global economic challenges.
He disclosed that the NCS had so far generated ₦4.43 trillion in revenue, noting that the figure reflected a shortfall when compared to projected expectations for the period.
According to the Comptroller-General, the ongoing crisis in the Middle East remains the major elephant in the room, as it has disrupted cargo movements and affected import volumes through Nigerian ports.
“The Middle East crisis has affected cargo coming into our ports. We are hopeful that the delicate situation involving the United States and Iran will improve, but for now, we have to contend with these external factors,” he said.
Adewale Adeniyi also appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise, where he revealed that the Customs Service surpassed its 2025 revenue target of ₦6.584 trillion by 10.24 per cent, generating ₦7.28 trillion, despite a series of government-approved tax waivers and fiscal incentives.
The Comptroller-General said the Customs Service exceeded its 2025 revenue target by ₦696 billion, attributing the performance to sustained reforms in revenue administration, technology deployment and trade facilitation.
The Customs boss said the feat was achieved despite significant revenue losses arising from fiscal policies introduced by the Federal Government to support critical sectors of the economy.
According to him, excise duty on telecommunications services remained suspended throughout 2025, while other revenue measures, including the proposed green tax, were yet to be implemented.
He also listed healthcare waivers, tax concessions on pharmaceutical products, and duty exemptions granted under the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas initiative covering CNG-powered and electric vehicles among measures that reduced Customs earnings.
Import duty exemption certificates, Adeniyi added, accounted for the largest revenue shortfall. “In 2025, a total of about ₦34.53 trillion worth of imports received various exemptions and waivers,” Adeniyi said, noting that the affected imports included military equipment and other strategic items approved under government intervention programmes.
He further explained that the limited number of products currently subject to excise duty also constrained revenue generation, while geopolitical tensions in the Middle East disrupted global supply chains during the last quarter of 2025, affecting imports of strategic commodities, particularly wheat.
