The Senate, on Wednesday, approved the 2026 budget proposal of the Nigeria Customs Service, backing a record revenue target of N11.074 trillion and total expenditure of N1.295 trillion.
The approval followed consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs, presented by the Chairman, Senator Isah Jibrin, during plenary.
Jibrin said the Committee reviewed the Service’s 2025 budget performance before considering the 2026 estimates.
He disclosed that Customs exceeded its 2025 revenue target of N6.5 trillion, generating about N7.2 trillion, representing 110.53 per cent performance.
According to him, revenue could have been higher but for the suspension of excise duty on telecommunications services, fiscal incentives for local production of healthcare products, and disruptions to global trade caused by the Russia-Ukraine war, which affected imports, particularly wheat.
On expenditure, Jibrin said while Customs had an approved budget of N1.132 trillion in 2025, actual spending was N591 billion. He attributed the shortfall in capital expenditure to delays in approvals by the Bureau of Public Procurement and the Federal Executive Council, which forced several projects to be rolled over to 2026.
The chairman said the N11.074 trillion revenue target for 2026 would be driven by expanded deployment of technology, improved revenue recovery, real-time audit systems, enhanced trade facilitation and intensified anti-smuggling operations.
He added that the proposed N1.295 trillion expenditure comprises N421 billion for personnel, N307 billion for overheads and N565 billion for capital projects. Funding, he said, will come mainly from the statutory four per cent Free-on-Board levy under the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023.
The committee recommended approval of both the revenue target and expenditure estimates.
Contributing, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin commended the committee and the Customs leadership for the performance.
“You have an agency 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 despite the higher revenue, the Service spent only N591 billion in 2025, with more devoted to capital projects than overheads.
“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 said.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio thereafter put the proposals to a voice vote and they were unanimously approved.
Akpabio commended the committee for its scrutiny and congratulated the Customs leadership. He expressed confidence that the approved budget would strengthen the Service’s operations and boost federal government revenue.