By James Adamu
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Monday reported a record revenue haul of N7.28 trillion for the 2025 fiscal year, exceeding its annual target of N6.58 trillion by a margin of 10.24 per cent, despite sweeping tax waivers and fiscal incentives that cost the agency over N34.5 trillion in potential earnings.
Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed the figures while defending the Service’s 2025 budget performance and presenting its 2026 budget proposal before the House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise.
Adeniyi clarified that an error had appeared in the executive summary of the budget document earlier submitted to lawmakers, prompting him to set the record straight.
“The correct revenue generated from January to December 2025 is N7.28tn. This represents a positive variance of 10.24 per cent above our annual target of N6.58tn,” he told the committee.
The Customs boss attributed the impressive performance to sustained reforms in revenue administration, aggressive technology deployment, and trade facilitation measures implemented throughout the year.
However, he noted that the feat was achieved against a backdrop of significant revenue losses arising from federal fiscal policies designed to stimulate critical sectors of the economy.
Among the measures that trimmed Customs earnings, Adeniyi listed the continued suspension of excise duty on telecommunications services throughout 2025, the non-implementation of the proposed green tax, healthcare-related waivers, tax concessions on pharmaceutical products, and duty exemptions granted under the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative covering CNG-powered and electric vehicles.
He identified Import Duty Exemption Certificates (IDECs) as the single largest contributor to the revenue shortfall, revealing that a total of ₦34.53 trillion worth of imports received various exemptions and waivers over the period.
“A total of ₦34.53tn worth of imports, made up of 56.40 per cent petroleum products and 40.52 per cent military imports,” Adeniyi explained, noting that the affected cargoes included strategic items approved under government intervention programmes.
He further pointed out that the limited range of products currently subject to excise duty constrained revenue generation, while geopolitical tensions in the Middle East during the last quarter of 2025 disrupted global supply chains and affected imports of strategic commodities, particularly wheat.
On expenditure, Adeniyi disclosed that although the Service secured an approved budget of ₦1.13 trillion for 2025, only ₦808.86 billion was available for implementation.
He attributed the funding shortfall to the transition from the old seven per cent Cost of Collection funding arrangement to the new four per cent Free-on-Board (FOB) Cost of Collection mechanism introduced under the Nigeria Customs Service Act. The Service operated under the previous model until August 2025 before migrating to the new framework.
“You might wish to recollect that there were two funding portfolios for the Nigeria Customs Service. We relied on the seven per cent Cost of Collection until August before commencing implementation of the four per cent FOB arrangement,” he said.
Adeniyi commended the National Assembly for supporting the transition, stating: “We want to put it on record that the support we received from the National Assembly was very instrumental, and we thank you for this.”
The available funds, he added, were utilised for personnel costs and critical operational needs, though he did not provide further breakdown during the presentation.
The House Committee has yet to respond to the Service’s 2026 budget proposal, which is now under review.
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