The chairman of the Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff, Senator Isah Jibrin, conveyed on Monday during a meeting with the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, and senior management in Abuja, that the Customs Service’s revenue target of N5.079 trillion for 2024 would need revision upwards in the latter half of the year to mitigate the country’s dependence on further borrowing. 

Jibrin’s statement underscored the necessity of customs in generating internally generated revenue to alleviate the country’s debt burden. He emphasized:

“Customs is one of the major providers of internally generated revenue, and as it is today, we expect them to play one of the major roles in this drive to reduce our debt burden.”

He further stressed the importance of revenue collection to repay existing debts and minimize future borrowing. Additionally, he highlighted the significance of concessions granted to specific sectors such as agriculture and solid minerals, aiming to stimulate economic growth without compromising revenue collection

“Concessions were in the interest of Nigeria to encourage importers who are going into specific areas in the economy.”

Regarding unemployment concerns, Jibrin acknowledged the limitations of the Nigeria Customs Service in absorbing all unemployed Nigerians but urged the service to explore opportunities to provide more jobs within its capacity:

“It is difficult for the Nigeria Customs Service to absorb all unemployed Nigerians, but they can only employ those they can.”

In response, Adewale Adeniyi disclosed the NCS’s intention to seek government approval for granting waivers to owners of smuggled cars to regularize their payment of customs duties. He emphasized the need for stability in the exchange rate regime to facilitate effective planning and operations, proposing a coordinated effort between monetary and fiscal policy authorities to establish predictable spot rates for customs duties over specific periods:

“We can agree that for Q, Y 2024, this will be the spot rate for payment of Customs duties; we could say for the first half of the year.”