Senate Approves Customs’ N11tn Revenue Target, N1.3tn Budget for 2026
By Victor Idajili
The Senate on Wednesday approved the 2026 budget proposal of the Nigeria Customs Service, backing a record N11.074 trillion revenue target and an expenditure plan of N1.295 trillion.
The approval came after lawmakers considered and adopted the report of the Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs during plenary.
Presenting the report, Committee Chairman Senator Isah Jibrin said the panel first reviewed Customs’ 2025 performance before looking at the 2026 estimates.
He said the Service surpassed its N6.5 trillion revenue target for 2025 by generating about N7.2 trillion— a performance rate of 110.53%.
Jibrin however noted that revenue could have been even higher but for factors such as the suspension of excise duty on telecom services, fiscal incentives for local production of healthcare products, and disruptions to global trade from the Russia-Ukraine war, which affected imports like wheat.
On spending, he disclosed that while Customs had an approved budget of about N1.132 trillion in 2025, actual expenditure was N591 billion.
He blamed the low capital utilisation on delays in project approvals by the Bureau of Public Procurement and the Federal Executive Council, which forced several projects to be rolled over to 2026.
According to the committee, Customs intends to hit the N11.074 trillion target through increased use of technology, stronger revenue recovery, real-time audit systems, better trade facilitation and intensified anti-smuggling operations.
The proposed N1.295 trillion expenditure is broken down as:
N421 billion for personnel costs
N307 billion for overhead
N565 billion for capital projects
The budget will be funded mainly from the 4% Free on Board levy provided under the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023.
Based on its findings, the committee recommended that the Senate approve both the revenue and spending proposals.
Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin commended the committee for a thorough report and praised the Comptroller-General of Customs and officers for their performance.
He said the strong revenue numbers justified President Bola Tinubu’s decision to extend the tenure of the Customs boss.
“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,” he said.
Barau noted that spending only N591bn in 2025 despite the revenue surge showed discipline, with most of it going to capital projects rather than overhead.
“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,” he stated.
After contributions, Senate President Godswill Akpabio put the proposals to a voice vote and they were unanimously approved.
Akpabio commended the Committee on Customs for detailed scrutiny and congratulated Customs leadership. He expressed confidence that the approved budget would strengthen Customs operations and boost federal revenue.
