From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Senate on Wednesday, June 25, approved the sum of ₦1.1 trillion as the 2025 budget for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) after a heated debate as lawmakers queried the agency’s rising expenditure profile and revenue projections.
Senators took turns to scrutinise the budget presentation, questioning the logic behind a more than threefold increase in the NCS’s expenditure from the previous year, the legality of the service’s current 7% cost of collection, and recurring instances of “rolled-over” capital projects.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Solomon Adeola, while speaking on the report on the budget presented by the Customs Committee chairman, Isa Jibrin, in plenary, expressed deep reservations about the budget for inconsistencies between revenue generation and expenditure growth.
“The budget has increased from just over ₦700 billion to ₦1.1 trillion, yet we’re told their total revenue for last year was ₦6.5 trillion, up from a projected ₦5 trillion. That’s impressive, but only 4% to 7% of that revenue comes back to Customs. So how are we funding this spending increase?” he queried.
Adeola insisted that in 2024, Customs could only implement 46% of their N706 billion budget, achieving just N322 billion in actual expenditure, yet their 2025 projection has jumped dramatically.
Echoing similar sentiments, the Committee on Finance chairman, Sani Musa, noted the lack of clarity and justification for the surge in personnel and overhead costs.
“Personnel costs have moved from N94 billion in 2024 to N247 billion in 2024. That’s almost tripled. Overheads have also jumped from N56 billion to N239 billion. What’s driving these numbers?” he asked, urging further scrutiny.
The Senate also raised concerns over Customs’ cost of collection, which has shifted from the legally mandated 4% Free on Board (FOB) rate to a 7% rate.
Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau noted that the 2023 Customs Act stipulates 4% rate, and any deviation without legislative approval was “technically illegal.”
“They cannot change an Act of Parliament without coming back to the National Assembly,” Barau said, demanding clarification from the Ministry of Finance.
Another major concern was the repetition of capital projects from previous years. Abdul Ningi decried the continued inclusion of “ongoing projects” in successive budgets, arguing that this practice lacked fiscal discipline. “The money was already appropriated in 2024. Why bring the same ongoing projects into the 2025 budget, totalling over ₦300 billion? We must protect taxpayers’ money,” he said.
In response, the Committee on Customs chairman, while acknowledging the concerns raised, explained that the 7% cost of collection was a temporary arrangement and said a meeting with the Minister of Finance would be convened to revert to the 4% FOB-based formula.
He also attributed the expenditure spike to the recruitment of over 3,000 new staff and the need to complete legacy projects from prior years.
“Personnel costs are not just salaries. They include entitlements, allowances, and operational logistics for new recruits. These are all detailed in the document,” Jibrin explained.
On revenue, he said the ₦6.5 trillion target was derived from the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), but noted that lawmakers should expect a mid-year review of performance, with the possibility of an upward adjustment.
However, Musa maintained his position, stating, “I cannot support a budget that triples key expenditure lines in one year without solid justification.”
In his concluding remarks, Barau, who presided over plenary, urged the Customs Committee to strengthen its oversight.
“Customs is the heart of our revenue. We cannot toy with it. Chairman, you and your committee must submit monthly reports on Customs’ revenue and spending. We will monitor closely,” he said.
The Deputy Senate President added that Nigeria needs all the revenue it can generate to fund President Tinubu’s developmental plans and charged the committee to ensure no leakages or abuse of funds.
Ultimately, the Senate approved the ₦1.132 trillion Customs expenditure budget for 2025 with a caveat that the committee must return with updates after consulting the Minister of Finance and ensuring proper legislative oversight.