The Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, on Thursday said the Nigeria Customs Service generated N1.34 trillion in the first quarter of 2024.
He said N318 billion was lost to exemptions, waivers and concessions granted to companies in the same period, while 478 seizures amounting to N1.9 trillion were made by its operatives in the period under review.
Adeniyi made this known while appearing before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance in the ongoing probe to monitor revenue by Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government.
He said with a projected revenue target of N1.269 trillion for the first quarter of 2024, the agency surpassed its revenue target by N77 billion. He said the agency has a revenue target of N5.079 trillion for the year 2024.
He pointed out that the suspension of excise policy on carbonated drinks, single used plastics, telecommunication and others in the 2024 fiscal policy measures, adversely affected revenue generation by the agency.
“The monthly expected average revenue target stood at N423,255,822,173.79; the collection for January recorded a shortfall of 7.66 per cent on the target while February denoted an excess of 6.37 per cent and, the month of March equally represented a positive variance of 19.71 per cent of its respective monthly estimates. On aggregate, within the first quarter of 2024, with the total projected revenue of N1,269,767,466,521.38, the sum of N1,347,705,251,658.31 was collected, which recorded a significant improvement of 6.14 per cent higher than the periodic target,” Adeniyi explained.
He said the service performed remarkably well in terms of revenue generation within the first quarter of 2024 with 6.14 percent above the periodic target. He said said the Customs’ contribution to the annual revenue target as at March 31, 2024, stood at 26.53 per cent. He added that the trade balance was positive at an advantage of 84.58 per cent.
Adeniyi further revealed that the volume of cargo throughput has reduced compared to previous year. He blamed the volatility of the exchange rate for the development.
“The volume of cargo that has been coming to our port in the first quarter has dropped by about 5.14 per cent of what we saw in 2023. The cargo throughput has reduced because of the volatility of the exchange rate and value of dollar. The reduction in volume of cargo has impacted our revenues,” he said.
The Deputy Chairman of the Committee, Saidu Abdullahi, said customs would have generated more income for Nigeria’s consolidated revenue fund in the first quarter without the waivers and concessions arrangements.
While commending the agency for surpassing its quarterly revenue target, Abdullahi, urged the service to do more.
“I must encourage you to do more. I can see a man that knows his worth. But you can do well. You said your target is N5 trillion but you can make it N6 trillion and the whole country will celebrate you,” Abdullahi said.
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