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… Says tarrif reduction may affect target
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The Nigeria Customs Service( NCS) has said that it is targeting a revenue of 11.07trillion for the 2026 fiscal, noting that it would deepen automation, expand intelligence-led enforcement and enhance trade facilitation to achieve its projection.
The Comptroller-General of Customs ( CGC), Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this, on Monday, when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise for a defence of the NCS 2026 budget proposal.
He explained that the target of comprises ₦5.54tn from the federation accounts, ₦1.49tn from non-federation accounts, ₦2.27tn from import Value Added Tax and ₦1.26tn from the four per cent FOB Cost of Collection.
According to him, the Service would leverage on the Unified Customs Information System popularly known as B’Odogwu, in the pursuit of its revenue projection.
“The Unified Customs Management System is now up and running very well. We believe it provides the platform for robust revenue collection,” he said.
Nonetheless, the Customs boss, who confirmed that import duty on used vehicles had been reduced from 15 per cent to five per cent, while duty on brand-new vehicles was cut from 20 per cent to 10 per cent, stated the tariff reductions may affect its target.
Adeniyi, while speaking on the 2025 budget performance, said the NCS
surpassed its revenue target for last by 10.24 per cent, as generated ₦7.28tn between January and December, not minding series of tax waivers and fiscal incentives approved by the government to stimulate economic growth.
The Customs boss, who explained that
the Service exceeded its 2025 revenue target of ₦6.58tn by ₦696bn, attributed its performance to sustained reforms in revenue administration, technology deployment and trade facilitation.
“The correct revenue generated from January to December 2025 is ₦7.28tn. This represents a positive variance of 10.24 per cent above our annual target of ₦6.58tn,” adding that “in 2025, a total of about ₦34.53tn worth of imports received various exemptions and waivers.”
He explained that the affected imports waivers included military equipment and other strategic items approved under government intervention programmes.
Adeniyi, while responding to a question by the Committee chairman, Leke Abejide, on why many importers still preferred neighbouring ports despite the lower tariffs, said it was too early to assess the impact of the policy.
He said: “This is a new policy. It takes an average of about 90 days before we begin to see its full effects. The implementation commenced on May 1, 2026, and we believe the impact will become more evident over time.”
