By George Mgbeleke

The Senate on Wednesday approved the 2026 budget proposal of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), endorsing a revenue target of N11.074 trillion and a total expenditure of N1.295 trillion for the 2026 fiscal year.

The approval followed the consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs, chaired by Senator Isah Jibrin (Kogi East), during plenary.

Presenting the report, Jibrin said the committee assessed the agency’s 2025 budget implementation before examining the 2026 estimates.

He declared that the Customs Service exceeded its 2025 revenue target of N6.5 trillion, generating about N7.2 trillion, representing a performance of 110.53 per cent.

According to him, the agency’s performance could have been stronger but for the suspension of excise duty on telecommunications services, fiscal measures promoting local production of healthcare products and disruptions to global trade caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which affected imports, particularly wheat.

On expenditure, Jibrin said although the Customs Service had an approved budget of about N1.132 trillion in 2025, actual spending stood at N591 billion.

He attributed the shortfall in capital expenditure to delays in approvals by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the Federal Executive Council (FEC), resulting in several projects being rolled over to the 2026 fiscal year.

The committee chairman explained that the Service’s projected N11.074 trillion revenue target for 2026 would be driven by expanded deployment of technology, improved revenue recovery mechanisms, real-time audit systems, enhanced trade facilitation and intensified anti-smuggling operations.

He added that the proposed N1.295 trillion expenditure consists of N421 billion for personnel costs, N307 billion for overheads and N565 billion for capital projects, with funding expected to come mainly from the statutory four per cent Free on Board (FOB) levy under the Nigerian Customs Service Act, 2023.

Based on its review, the committee recommended Senate approval of both the proposed revenue target and expenditure estimates.

Contributing to the debate, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin praised the committee for what he described as a well-prepared report and commended the Comptroller-General of Customs and the entire workforce for their impressive performance.

He said the agency’s record revenue generation justified President Bola Tinubu’s decision to extend the tenure of the Comptroller-General.

“You have an agency that budgeted to generate about N6.5 trillion but ended up generating N7.2 trillion. That is a wonderful performance, and we cannot commend the Comptroller-General and his team enough,” Barau said.

He noted that despite generating significantly higher revenue, the Customs Service spent only N591 billion in 2025, with a larger share devoted to capital projects than overhead costs.

Barau also described the agency’s projected revenue target of over N11 trillion for 2026 as evidence of confidence in the reforms and innovations introduced by its leadership.

“For an agency to propose generating N11 trillion and spending only N1.2 trillion to run its operations shows remarkable fiscal discipline. This is an institution Nigerians should be proud of,” he added.

Following the committee’s recommendations, Senate President Godswill Akpabio put the proposals to a voice vote, and lawmakers unanimously approved the revenue target and expenditure estimates.

Akpabio commended the Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs for its thorough scrutiny of the budget proposal and congratulated the leadership of the Nigerian Customs Service on its performance.

He also expressed confidence that the approved budget would strengthen the operations of the Customs Service and boost revenue generation for the Federal Government

By George Mgbeleke

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) is compelled to raise the alarm over the worsening reign of impunity in the Federal Capital Territory’s housing sector, where landlords have become laws unto themselves, imposing outrageous, arbitrary and extortionate rent increases with absolute disregard for justice, fairness and the economic realities confronting millions of Nigerians.
HURIWA unequivocally condemns the unchecked exploitation of tenants in Abuja and describes the current rental regime as one of the gravest forms of economic violence being perpetrated against citizens in the nation’s capital.
It is disgraceful that after nearly twenty-seven years of uninterrupted democratic governance, successive National Assemblies have shamelessly failed to enact a comprehensive legal framework regulating landlord-tenant relationships in the Federal Capital Territory. This legislative negligence has effectively abandoned millions of residents to the mercy of desperate profiteers masquerading as landlords, who arbitrarily determine rents without accountability, transparency or legal restraint.
Today, Abuja has become one of Africa’s most expensive cities in which to rent accommodation, not because of superior infrastructure or exceptional public services, but because government institutions have abdicated their constitutional responsibility to protect citizens from economic exploitation.
HURIWA is not speaking in abstraction. We have become direct victims of this institutional failure.
Without prior consultation, negotiation or mutual agreement, the landlord of the building housing the national headquarters of HURIWA arbitrarily increased the annual rent for our modest one-room office from ₦1 million to ₦3 million. This outrageous 200 per cent increment was imposed unilaterally and without any corresponding improvement in the facilities, infrastructure or services attached to the property.
We reject this unconscionable act of economic intimidation.
This is not negotiation. This is exploitation.
This is not commerce. It is profiteering.
This is not property management. It is economic oppression.
If a nationally recognised civil society organisation can be subjected to such brazen exploitation, one can only imagine the daily suffering of ordinary civil servants, pensioners, teachers, journalists, artisans, widows, market women, students and young families who lack the platform to speak out.
Across Abuja, landlords have transformed shelter—a fundamental human necessity—into an instrument of economic blackmail. Many now increase rents by 50, 100 or even 200 per cent without notice, justification or consultation. Tenants are routinely threatened with eviction if they dare question these arbitrary demands, while many buildings suffer from poor maintenance, dilapidated facilities, inadequate water supply, erratic electricity and crumbling infrastructure.
Yet tenants are expected to pay increasingly scandalous rents for deteriorating living conditions.
The consequences of this lawless rental culture are devastating.
Families are being displaced from communities they have lived in for years. Young professionals are abandoning the city centre for distant settlements because they can no longer afford accommodation. Businesses are shutting down under crushing overhead costs. Many workers now spend the bulk of their salaries on rent, leaving virtually nothing for food, healthcare, transportation or education.
The housing crisis is no longer merely an economic issue.
It has become a major human rights challenge.
It is fueling homelessness, deepening poverty, widening inequality, destroying small businesses, encouraging urban crime and creating conditions capable of triggering serious social instability if urgent intervention is not undertaken.
HURIWA therefore calls on the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and every member representing the Federal Capital Territory to immediately commence legislative action establishing an independent Federal Capital Territory Landlords and Tenants Tribunal, backed by a robust legal framework capable of protecting both landlords and tenants.
The proposed Tribunal should possess statutory authority to mediate disputes, regulate arbitrary rent increases, discourage exploitative practices, protect landlords against defaulting tenants, guarantee due process before eviction and ensure that both parties operate within a transparent legal framework.
We also demand the establishment of an independent Landlords and Tenants Ombudsman to receive complaints, investigate abuses, resolve disputes through mediation and prevent avoidable litigation.
The era where landlords behave like emperors and tenants are treated as conquered subjects must come to an end.
HURIWA equally calls on the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Barrister Nyesom Wike, to convene an emergency stakeholders’ summit involving tenants’ associations, estate surveyors, consumer protection agencies, civil society organisations and landlords to fashion practical and sustainable solutions to Abuja’s worsening housing emergency.
Government cannot continue to celebrate infrastructural development while millions of residents are gradually being priced out of the city they help to sustain through their labour and taxes.
Housing is not a luxury.
It is not a privilege reserved for the wealthy.
Access to decent shelter is inseparable from the constitutional guarantee of the dignity of the human person.
History will not be kind to any government that watches helplessly while speculative greed renders thousands of hardworking Nigerians homeless.
The National Assembly must stop looking the other way.
Silence in the face of injustice amounts to complicity.
HURIWA will continue to mobilise public opinion, engage relevant institutions and pursue every lawful democratic avenue until Abuja tenants are rescued from this reign of economic intimidation and Nigeria finally adopts a fair, transparent and enforceable legal regime that balances the legitimate rights of landlords with the fundamental rights of tenants.

By David Owei

The Delta State Government, Monday, said 25 prospective investors from Brazil and China have indicated interest in the forthcoming Delta State Investment and Economic Summit, as Vice President Kashim Shettima and Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, WTO, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Patrice Lumumba headline a high-powered list of participants.

Secretary to the State Government, SSG, and Chairman of the Main Organising Committee, Dr Kingsley Emu, disclosed this during an interactive session with stakeholders in Asaba, saying the summit would connect the state’s vast economic potential with local and international capital.

Emu said the summit, themed “Harnessing Our Strengths and Potential,” would also attract the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, development finance institutions and leading private-sector players, while renowned oil and gas industry leader, Engr. Austin Avuru, would serve as Chairman.

He said: “To date, 25 potential investors are coming in from Brazil and China. They have indicated interest and we are already making preparations for them.

“Our sister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the WTO, will be the keynote speaker. Engr. Austin Avuru is the Chairman of the Summit. The Minister of Finance has personally acknowledged his attendance, while the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, has also confirmed his attendance.

“So, it is going to be a star-studded programme, with participation from the national level, development finance institutions and a host of others.”

Emu stressed that local businesses would play a critical role in translating foreign investor interest into sustainable economic activity, noting that prospective investors were already seeking credible indigenous partners.

“For every potential investor who has expressed interest, they are talking about local partners, and those partners will come from among our people.

“The significant success we will achieve on this journey will depend on your cooperation, collaboration and positive disposition to what we want to do,” he told stakeholders.

The SSG said Delta was approaching the summit with clearly defined and bankable investment propositions rather than a broad promotional agenda, identifying agriculture, aquaculture, power, oil and gas, solid minerals, manufacturing and the blue economy as priority sectors.

According to him, Delta possesses strong economic fundamentals, including a youthful population, extensive land and waterways, abundant oil and gas resources, expanding infrastructure and a broad network of tertiary, technical and vocational institutions.

“We have a lot of strengths. We are one of Nigeria’s leading subnational economies, with a youthful population and enormous consumption potential.
We have vast land and water resources that give us a competitive advantage, particularly in the blue and marine economy,” he said.

Emu said the state was deliberately repositioning beyond its traditional identity as a leading oil-producing state, with services, agriculture and other non-oil sectors increasingly contributing to economic growth.

He said; “we have four universities owned by the state, so we are providing a new level of manpower. Potential investors can partner freely and easily with our institutions and technical colleges to train manpower tailor-made to suit their operations.
This presents enormous opportunities in human capital development and availability of skilled manpower.

“We are very strong in agriculture and we want to translate that strength across the entire value chain. Cassava is one of the areas we are looking at. We are also looking at rice and other agro-products. What we want is investment that creates value, jobs and sustainable economic activity”.

The SSG described aquaculture as one of Delta’s strongest but underdeveloped opportunities, saying the state has a huge concentration of fish farmers and fish ponds but requires significant investment in fish feed production, cold rooms and processing facilities.

“Fish feed is one of the most important, expensive and challenging issues for fish farmers. Once you have those feeds available, you can be sure that we will become a major fish basket.

“If we have cold rooms and processing facilities around, our farmers will produce much more. We are looking for investors, both foreign and local, to partner with us to bridge these gaps,” Emu said.

He said the state’s extensive waterways also offered opportunities for commercial fishing, processing and other blue-economy ventures.

On solid minerals, Emu listed kaolin, coal, silica, clay and lignite among resources with commercial potential, stressing that some deposits were already attracting concessions and commercial activity.

“Solid mineral opportunities exist here. It is no longer storytelling; the resources are proven and people are already doing business in some of these areas,” he said.

Emu also identified power as a major investment frontier, citing Delta’s gas resources and proximity to critical gas infrastructure as competitive advantages for industrial development.

He said the government was exploring decentralised electricity solutions, particularly mini-grids and captive generation, to provide more reliable energy for industrial clusters, manufacturing concerns and commercial centres.

“The preferred model for us is the mini-grid because the national grid has become a major challenge. We have opportunities for power across the state, particularly in our cities and industrial areas where demand is high.

“If you have consistent power supply, the economy will do much better. We have the gas, we have the strategic location and we have the opportunity to provide competitive power for industries,” he said.

Emu said the summit would go beyond speeches to include sector-focused engagements, investment matchmaking, site visits and structured follow-up aimed at converting investor interest into bankable projects.

Speaking on behalf of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, NACCIMA, Janet Olisa said the organised private sector was fully on board and ready to partner with the state government.

She expressed confidence that sustained public-private collaboration would help translate the summit into tangible investments, job creation and broader economic growth.