By Ahmed Yusuf | National News
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced a major overhaul of its recruitment process, declaring that it will now conduct recruitment exercises annually to ensure a more predictable and efficient manpower replacement system.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, made the announcement on Tuesday while unveiling the final list of successful candidates for the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise at the service headquarters in Abuja.
Adeniyi said the new policy was designed to eliminate the long gaps between recruitment exercises, allowing the service to replace retiring personnel promptly while creating regular employment opportunities for qualified young Nigerians.
He disclosed that the 2026 recruitment exercise would commence later this year and, unlike previous exercises, would be concluded within a single calendar year—from the advertisement stage to the release of the final list of successful applicants.
“The Nigeria Customs Service is moving to an annual recruitment cycle. Recruitment will no longer be an occasional event undertaken every several years. It will be a standing, predictable, yearly process,” Adeniyi said.
He explained that the lengthy duration of the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise was largely due to the establishment of a comprehensive recruitment framework, including screening, verification and administrative systems that would now support future exercises.
“The systems, the screening architecture and the verification processes built during this exercise now exist, and they will not have to be built again. The delays of this cycle were in significant part the cost of constructing that machinery. That cost has now been paid,” he stated.
According to the Customs boss, the annual recruitment model will improve workforce planning by enabling the service to anticipate vacancies arising from retirements and other exits rather than responding after manpower shortages occur.
He added that the new system would also benefit job seekers by providing certainty about future recruitment opportunities.
“It means that a young Nigerian who is unsuccessful this year knows precisely when the next opportunity arrives, rather than waiting in uncertainty for an announcement that may be years in coming,” Adeniyi said.
The announcement followed the conclusion of the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise, which attracted hundreds of thousands of applicants across the country.
Adeniyi also revealed that 3,852 candidates were offered appointments into the service across three entry cadres.
According to him, 1,275 candidates were recruited into the Superintendent Cadre, 367 into the Inspectorate Cadre, while 2,210 were employed into the Customs Assistant Cadre.
The Comptroller-General expressed confidence that the annual recruitment system would strengthen the operational capacity of the Nigeria Customs Service while providing consistent employment opportunities for qualified Nigerians.
