Marian Okpe-‘ Abuna
Hon. (Elder) Leke Abejide Chairman House of Reps Committee on Customs
Having presented the 2025 budget of Nigeria Customs and Excise, the House of Representatives Committee on Customs directed the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to stop the collection of the 7 per cent Cost of Collection (CoC) from July 1, 2025, in line with the provisions of its 2023 Act.
The committee instructed the agency to instead commence the collection of 4 per cent Free on Board (FoB) charges on imports.
The resolution was arrived at during the 2025 budget defense session held within the confines of the Nigeria National Assembly Abuja.
The Nigeria Customs team led by the Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs, Bello Jibo, represented Comptroller-General Bashir Adeniyi, who is currently attending the World Customs Organisation (WCO) meeting in Brussels, Belgium, where Nigeria is seeking to reclaim the WCO chairmanship seat it last held in 1987.
In the course of the session, the committee expressed displeasure at the agency’s 2024 budget performance.
The highlights in content consists personnel costs which accounts for 43.5 per cent and overhead expenses stood at 46.34 per cent, while noting that Customs had not received 60 per cent of the 1 per cent Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) revenue allocation for overhead funding.
While presenting the budget, Jibo revealed that the Service generated ₦6.105 trillion in 2024, surpassing its ₦5.079 trillion target, representing a positive variance of ₦2.899 billion or 90.40 per cent.
However, the committee chairman, Hon. (Elder) Leke Abejide, reiterated the importance of aligning Customs’ revenue collection processes with statutory provisions and in conformity with regulations and the law.