Lawmakers Alarmed by 300% Cost Surge, Illegal 7% Revenue Cut, Project Rollovers
The Senate has fired a major warning shot at the Nigerian Customs Service, approving its proposed ₦1.13 trillion budget for 2025 — but not without a storm of criticism over ballooning expenditures, illegal revenue practices, and repeated abuse of capital project rollovers.
Lawmakers, in a heated session Tuesday, said the Customs’ 300% surge in spending — particularly in personnel and overhead — was not only unjustified but a red flag of deeper fiscal indiscipline.
“You can’t triple your budget when your past performance is abysmal,” said Senator Solomon Adeola (Ogun West), referencing Customs’ 49% implementation of its 2024 budget. “This is the third straight year of bloated figures and recycled failures.”
The sharpest rebuke came over Customs’ self-imposed increase in its cost of collection from 4% to 7% — a move senators described as illegal and unconstitutional, given that the percentage is set by law.
“This is dangerous territory,” said Senator Danjuma Goje. “They are overriding an Act of Parliament under the guise of stakeholder consultations. It’s a direct threat to legislative authority.”
Committee Chairman on Customs, Senator Jibrin Isah, admitted the discrepancy but claimed it was temporary and tied to unresolved issues with the 4% Free On Board (FOB) formula. He promised to meet with the Minister of Finance to address the breach.
Still, lawmakers weren’t convinced.
Personnel costs had jumped from ₦94 billion to ₦247 billion, while overhead ballooned from ₦56 billion to ₦239 billion — with little or no documentation provided to justify the increases.
“Is Customs secretly recruiting an army?” Senator Tokunbo Abiru (Lagos East) queried. “There is no transparency, no logic, just numbers on paper.”
Also triggering outrage was Customs’ decision to carry forward over ₦300 billion worth of unexecuted projects — many of them approved in prior years but never implemented.
“Year after year, these ghost projects reappear,” said Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central). “Taxpayers are being robbed in plain sight. This must end.”
Though the Senate ultimately approved the budget, Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau delivered a stern final warning.
“Customs is now under the microscope,” he declared. “Your committee must deliver monthly oversight reports. Nigeria’s fiscal future is tied to revenue transparency — and Customs cannot be a financial black hole.”
The Red Chamber also demanded a forensic review of all rolled-over capital projects, signaling that approvals going forward will come with real-time scrutiny.
With Nigeria’s debt pressures and economic instability mounting, senators warned that unchecked revenue agencies could derail national development.
“Without money, the President’s plans will collapse,” Barau said. “We need performance, not padding. Customs must deliver — or be held accountable.”