The House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise has set the sum of N3.01 trillion as the 2022 revenue target for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
The committee also approved N369 billion as the 2022 budget for the service.
Chairman, House Committee on Customs and Excise, Leke Abejide, said this when the Comptroller-General of Customs, Hameed Ali, appeared before the committee to defend the 2022 budget.
Abejide commended the NCS for exceeding its N1.678 trillion 2021 revenue target.
He recalled that during the 2021 budget defence, the Customs CG presented the sum of N1.465 trillion, which he said was low compared to the parametres prevailing at the time.
He listed the parametres to include reduction and removal of 35 per cent levy on new automobile and devaluation of the naira by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He also mentioned the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, which made many economies hitherto closed to be opened.
Ajibade said that House jerked up the revenue target to N1.678 trillion.
He said that though the Customs boss and his team were skeptical about meeting the target at the end of 2021, the NCS collected N2.241 trillion, thus exceeding the revenue target for the year.
“You have indeed performed well in this area and that is very commendable,” Abejide said, urging the service to improve its revenue collections in 2022.
Speaking on the Customs budget for 2022, Ali said that N45.89 billion was earmarked as running cost, N5 billion for staff loan and advances and N12.57 billion for miscellaneous expenses.
He added that N4.2 billion was earmarked for transport allowance of officers on local and international training, while N1.5 billion would go to general maintenance.
The Customs Comptroller General, however, noted that the service has no accommodation for its staff.
He said that the situation had forced their Customs personnel “to dwell amongst smugglers.
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