The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is facing mounting pressure to deliver on its ₦10 trillion revenue target for 2025 after collecting ₦3.6 trillion in the first half of the year.
Data released by the Service showed that between January and June 2025, Customs generated ₦3.6 trillion, an improvement on the ₦2.7 trillion collected during the same period in 2024.
However, the figure leaves a deficit of ₦6.4 trillion that must be raised before the end of December to meet the revised annual target.
The original 2025 revenue target was ₦6.58 trillion before the Senate raised it to ₦10 trillion in June, almost double last year’s benchmark.
The upward adjustment has forced the agency to roll out aggressive reforms and revive revenue measures to bridge the shortfall.
Customs recently launched the Unified Customs Management System, B’Odogwu, aimed at streamlining trade facilitation and phasing out manual clearance.
The system, designed to plug revenue leakages, has faced early criticism from industry stakeholders over technical glitches, which the Service says it is working to fix.
The NCS also reintroduced a four percent charge on goods’ Free on Board (FOB) value, replacing the one percent CISS and seven percent charge previously applied.
In addition, six modernised scanners, including the FS6000 model, have been deployed to boost non-intrusive inspection across ports.
The Service has also procured Electronic Cargo Tracking System equipment, reinforced its cybersecurity architecture, and operationalised a multi-channel help desk to improve compliance and monitoring.
To drive accountability, 223 Nigerian companies that defaulted on Temporary Admission Permits (TAP) were given 21 days to regularise their importation status or face penalties, including bond invocation.
Despite the measures, concerns persist over the economic impact of Customs’ revenue drive.
Muda Yusuf, chairman of the Centre for Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), warned that the steep target would likely increase cargo clearance costs, worsen inflationary pressures, and compound the challenges faced by businesses already grappling with foreign exchange volatility, rising energy costs, and weak consumer demand.
“The Customs Service will ultimately pass the burden of this target to businesses and citizens,” Yusuf said, noting that the government should balance revenue objectives with economic realities.
Nonetheless, optimism remains within government circles. Wale Edun, minister of finance and chairman of the Customs board, noted that the ₦3.6 trillion collected in the first half of the year exceeded projections by ₦390 billion.
He urged the Service to sustain its current momentum in the second half.
With six months left, the NCS must generate almost twice its first-half collection to meet the Senate’s ₦10 trillion mandate, a task that will test both its operational efficiency and the resilience of Nigeria’s trade sector.
