Friom Atiku Sarki, Abuja
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has generated a total of six trillion, one hundred and five billion, three hundred and fifteen million, five hundred and forty-three thousand, four hundred and righty-nine naira, fifty Kobo (N6,105,315,543,489.50) in revenue for the year 2024.
Speaking to the press in Abuja on Tuesday, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, highlighted the unprecedented performance of the NCS in revenue collection for 2024.
He noted that the revenue collected surpassed the NCS’s target of N5,079,069,866,085.50 by N1,026,245,677,404.00, reflecting a 20.2% increase.
Mr. Adeniyi further revealed that October 2024 marked a significant achievement, as the NCS remitted N603 billion from revenue collection, the highest monthly amount for the year.
“Let me welcome you to this press conference to discuss the activities and achievements of the Nigeria Customs Service in 2024,” said Adeniyi. “Before focusing on our performance this year, it is important to reflect on the Service’s journey in revenue generation, which has seen remarkable growth.”
He provided a historical overview, noting that customs duties in 1891 amounted to £516,817 (equivalent to approximately ₦604.7 million at current exchange rates). By 1960, the value had increased to £55,918,367, and by 1990, the figure stood at ₦9.2 billion.
The NCS, under Adeniyi’s leadership, reached a historic milestone in December 2017, collecting ₦1.037 trillion, exceeding the target by 34%. The Service then crossed the Two Trillion Naira threshold in 2022, collecting ₦2.6 trillion, and in 2023, it surpassed the Three Trillion Naira mark with a collection of ₦3.2 trillion.
“In 2024, we have exceeded all expectations,” Adeniyi said. “We collected N6,105,315,543,489.50, surpassing our target of N5,079,069,866,085.50 by N1,026,245,677,404.00, a 20.2% increase.
This represents a remarkable 90.4% increase over our 2023 collection of N3,206,583,002,675.65, marking the highest Year-on-Year increase recorded by the Service in recent years. Additionally, October 2024 saw the highest monthly collection ever, reaching N603,171,859,991.97.”
The NCS Boss elaborated on the components of the total revenue collected in 2024, which include the Federation account collections.
He stated that N3,657,063,981,445.42 was remitted to the Federation Account, consisting of Import Duty, Excise Duty, Fees, E-Auction proceeds, and CET Levy. The Non-Federation Account Levies amounted to N816,902,844,844.73, while Value Added Tax (VAT) on imports totaled N1,631,348,717,199.35.
“It is important to note that these collections were achieved despite significant concessions granted to various sectors of the economy, amounting to N1,682,302,648,880.67,” Adeniyi added. “These included N723,000,081,776.68 in import duty waivers, N372,649,650,951.72 in other levy concessions, and N586,652,916,152.27 in import VAT relief.
These strategic concessions were granted to support economic growth, industrial development, and the business environment in line with government policies.”
The 2024 concession value represents a significant reduction from the N3,959,868,268,993.18 recorded in 2023, a result of enhanced monitoring mechanisms and reforms aimed at closing loopholes and ensuring that only qualifying enterprises benefit from these incentives.
Adeniyi concluded by acknowledging the continuous alignment of the NCS with the policy objectives of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the guidance of the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Olawale Edun, and the support of the Management and staff of the Nigeria Customs Service.