The House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise has approved the proposed N1.132 trillion budget for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for the 2025 fiscal year.
The approval was granted during a budget defence session held on Monday, where Bashir Adeniyi, Comptroller General of Customs, represented by Bello Jibo, Deputy Comptroller General, Finance, Administration and Technical Services, presented the financial estimates before the committee on Monday.
According to the NCS, the revenue target for 2025 has been set at N6.584 trillion. This comprises N3.853 trillion earmarked for the Federation Account, N1.081 billion for the non-federation account, and N1.650 trillion from import Value Added Tax (VAT).
In a breakdown of expected revenue streams, Adeniyi noted that the Service anticipates N1.070 trillion from 4% Free-On-Board (FOB) charges, N33.01 billion from its 2% VAT share, and N29.05 billion for ongoing capital projects.The proposed budget allocates N247.16 billion for personnel costs, N239.97 billion for overheads, and N645.42 billion for capital expenditure.
However, the committee issued a June 30 ultimatum to Customs to halt collections of Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) and the 7% Cost of Collection or risk legal action, explaining that both charges as illegal and not supported by the Laws of the Federation (LFN).
Leke Abejide, Chairman of the committee, delivered the directive following a unanimous voice vote by committee members. He criticised the continued collection of levies that, he said, lack statutory backing and have been discontinued under the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023.
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“The CISS has been suspended by the current Act, yet it is allegedly still being collected by the Service,” Abejide said. “From January to December 2024, there was zero remittance from the 60% share of the 1% CISS levy—revenue that was previously used to fund overheads, personnel and capital projects.”
Despite the NCS exceeding its 2024 revenue target by over N1 trillion—generating N6.105 trillion against a target of N5.079 trillion, the chairman expressed dismay that funding for critical budgetary lines remained low. He revealed that performance stood at 43.53% for personnel costs, 46.34% for overheads, and 45.68% for capital projects.
He further queried the basis for continuing the CISS collection, originally introduced to fund foreign service providers such as Cotecna, SGS, and Global Scan for pre-shipment inspections and valuation services, as well as Web Fontaine Limited for automation support.
“Today, over 80% of those responsibilities are handled in-house by the Nigeria Customs Service. Why, then, are you not receiving your share of the 60% CISS? Or better still, why is it being collected at all when the law no longer permits it?” Abejide asked.
He reiterated that only the 4% FOB charge, as stipulated in Section 18(1a) of the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023 (Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette No. 105, 9th June 2023), is legally recognised as a source of revenue.
“If the Service continues to collect CISS or the 7% Cost of Collection beyond June 30, it will face legal consequences for violating Nigerian law. This is a democracy, not a military regime,” Abejide added. “These levies originated as executive fiat under military rule. That era is over. You have until 30 June to comply. From 1 July, any further collection will be met with the full weight of the law,” he further said.
