…vehicle tariff reduction, US-Iran crisis slowing down progress – Adeniyi
The Controller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, on Monday assured the Senate that the Service would meet its N11.074 trillion revenue target for 2026 despite emerging setbacks.
According to Adeniyi, the NCS had generated N4.4 trillion by the end of June. However, he said the agency had projected to generate N5.5 trillion by the mid-year point but fell short due to a number of challenges.
The Comptroller-General, who appeared before the Senate Committee on Customs and Excise over the agency’s 2026 budget proposal, identified the new excise regime, including a 15 per cent reduction in vehicle import duties, as one of the setbacks.
He also said the Iran–US crisis, which led to the temporary blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, affected revenue generation by reducing the volume of cargoes arriving in Nigeria.
However, Adeniyi expressed optimism that with the easing of the restrictions, cargo arrivals and customs duty collections would rebound, enabling the Service to meet its overall revenue target by December 2026.
“On the question of how far we have come, yes, we are on N4.4 trillion, though what we should have collected by the halfway point is N5.5 trillion,” he told the committee, chaired by Senator Isah Jibrin Echocho (APC, Kogi East).
He recalled that in 2025, the Service exceeded its revenue target by 10.24 per cent.
According to him, although the National Assembly set a revenue target of N6.58 trillion for the agency, it generated N7.277 trillion by the end of the year.
“That means we generated N674 billion, or 10.24 per cent above the target for 2025,” he added.
Adeniyi further explained that in 2025, factors such as the delayed implementation of the telecommunications tax and the Presidential intervention on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), aimed at cushioning the effects of economic reforms on Nigerians, affected revenue generation despite the Service surpassing its target.
On the agency’s operations, he said the National Assembly approved a budget of N1.1 trillion for the NCS in 2025, but only N808.86 billion was released. For 2026, the Service proposed a similar amount to cover its recurrent and capital expenditure.
The committee, while assessing the performance of the Service during the period under review, commended Adeniyi for the measures introduced to enhance revenue generation.
However, lawmakers urged him to intensify efforts not only to meet the 2026 revenue target of N11.074 trillion but also to surpass it.
“Government needs a lot of money to provide infrastructure. I call on you to work harder to meet your 2026 budget proposals, which I consider quite ambitious,” Senator Jibrin Echocho said.