Customs Announces Annual Recruitment as Thousands Secure Jobs

(General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adeniyi. Photo Credit: Punch News)

The Nigeria Customs Service has announced a major shift in its recruitment policy, declaring that future recruitment exercises will now be conducted annually rather than at irregular intervals.

The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this during a press briefing on the release of the final list of successful candidates for the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise at the service headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.

He explained that the decision forms part of efforts to establish a predictable manpower planning system that would allow the service to replace retiring officers promptly, while giving young Nigerians regular opportunities to join the organisation.

According to Adeniyi, the service has moved away from a recruitment model under which applicants had to wait several years before another opportunity arose.

He said the new structure would make recruitment a continuous process, with the 2026 exercise expected to begin later this year, adding that the Customs Service now has the systems, screening framework and verification processes required to conduct future recruitment exercises more efficiently.

He stated that recruitment would no longer be an occasional event held every few years, but a standing, predictable, yearly process, expressing his firm intention that the 2026 exercise would be completed within a single calendar year, from advertisement to the release of the final list.

The Comptroller-General explained that the lengthy process experienced during the 2024/2025 exercise was largely due to the need to build a robust recruitment architecture capable of supporting future exercises, noting that the systems, screening structures and verification processes developed during this cycle now exist and would not need to be rebuilt.

He said the delays experienced this time around were, in significant part, the cost of constructing that machinery, a cost he said had now been paid.

Adeniyi said the annual recruitment model would benefit both the service and prospective applicants by improving workforce planning and reducing uncertainty among young Nigerians seeking employment.

He explained that the approach would allow the service to anticipate manpower gaps arising from retirements and other exits, rather than waiting until shortages occur before recruiting, adding that an annual cycle serves both the service and applicants equally by enabling planning against known retirements rather than reacting to them.

He noted that the new system would also provide clarity for unsuccessful candidates, who would know precisely when the next opportunity would arise rather than waiting in uncertainty for an announcement that could take years.

The announcement followed the conclusion of the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise, which attracted significant interest from Nigerians seeking employment in the paramilitary agency.

Adeniyi also announced that 3,852 candidates had been offered appointments across the service's three entry cadres, with 1,275 recruited into the Superintendent Cadre, 367 into the Inspectorate Cadre, and 2,210 into the Customs Assistant Cadre.