The Senate has approved a N1.295 trillion spending plan for the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and endorsed an ambitious N11.074 trillion revenue target for 2026, signaling lawmakers’ support for the agency’s performance and the reforms that underpinned it.
The unanimous approval came after the Senate adopted the report of its Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs, which reviewed the agency’s 2025 performance and its 2026 budget submission.
Senator Isah Jibrin, the committee chairman, told colleagues the Customs Service exceeded expectations last year, collecting about N7.2 trillion against a N6.5 trillion target — a performance rate of roughly 110.5%.
Committee members, however, flagged factors that restrained collections, including the suspension of excise duties on telecommunications services, government measures to encourage local production of health-care products, and trade disruptions tied to the Russia‑Ukraine war that curtailed imports such as wheat.
The panel also examined the service’s 2025 expenditures. Although Customs had an approved budget of about N1.132 trillion for the year, only N591 billion was spent, the committee said.
Senator Jibrin attributed the underspend largely to delays in project approvals by the Bureau of Public Procurement and the Federal Executive Council, which pushed capital projects into the 2026 fiscal year.
To reach its N11.074 trillion goal, the Customs Service plans to expand the use of technology, tighten revenue recovery, implement real‑time audit systems, streamline trade processes and intensify anti‑smuggling efforts, the committee reported.
The approved 2026 allocation breaks down into roughly N421 billion for personnel, N307 billion for overhead and N565 billion for capital projects. The committee said the budget will be mainly financed through the statutory four‑percent Free on Board levy established under the Nigerian Customs Service Act, 2023.
Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin praised the committee’s work and commended the Comptroller‑General and Customs officers for exceeding last year’s target.
“You have an entity that budgeted to generate about N6.5 trillion but ended up generating N7.2 trillion. That is a wonderful performance,” he said, noting the service’s relatively low 2025 spending and its emphasis on capital investment.
Barau described the N11 trillion projection as a vote of confidence in recent reforms, adding that an agency proposing to raise N11 trillion while budgeting just over N1 trillion for operations demonstrated “remarkable fiscal discipline.”
Senate President Godswill Akpabio moved a voice vote on the committee’s recommendations; senators approved both the revenue target and the expenditure estimate.
Akpabio applauded the committee and the Customs leadership, saying the budget would strengthen Customs operations and bolster non‑oil revenue for the federal government.
The decision comes as the National Assembly continues scrutiny of 2026 budgets for major revenue‑generating agencies amid government efforts to lift non‑oil receipts and reduce dependence on borrowing.
