By Odita Sunday
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has released the final list of 3,852 successful candidates for its 2024/2025 recruitment exercise, while announcing a major policy shift that will see recruitment conducted annually to ensure a more predictable and efficient intake of personnel.
Addressing journalists during a press briefing, the Comptroller-General of Customs said the conclusion of the recruitment exercise marked the end of a process that began in December 2024 and attracted an overwhelming 573,680 applications nationwide. He explained that successful candidates comprise 1,275 recruits for the Superintendent Cadre, 367 for the Inspectorate Cadre, and 2,210 for the Customs Assistant Cadre.
The Customs boss apologised to applicants and their families over the prolonged recruitment process, acknowledging that the exercise took much longer than anticipated. He attributed the delay to the unprecedented volume of applications, extensive verification procedures, and the high rate of retirements among senior officers, which placed significant pressure on the Service’s administrative capacity.
According to him, every successful applicant passed through multiple stages of screening, including application verification, computer-based examinations, credential authentication against the national identity database, and further reviews where discrepancies were identified. He added that shortlisted candidates would still undergo physical and medical examinations before final approval by the Nigeria Customs Service Board.
He maintained that despite widespread interest in the exercise, the final list was produced strictly on merit and in line with the standards established by the Service.
The Comptroller-General noted that the recruitment was highly competitive, with only 3,852 candidates selected from 573,680 applicants, representing an overall success rate of 0.67 per cent, or roughly one successful candidate for every 148 applicants.
Breaking down the competition across cadres, he disclosed that the Superintendent Cadre received 276,995 applications for 1,275 vacancies, translating to one successful applicant out of every 217. The Inspectorate Cadre recorded the fiercest competition, with 128,604 applications competing for just 367 positions, while the Customs Assistant Cadre attracted 168,081 applications for 2,210 vacancies.
He encouraged the over 560,000 unsuccessful applicants not to lose hope, stressing that many met the required qualifications but were unable to secure positions because of the limited vacancies.
On geographical representation, the Comptroller-General said the recruitment reflected the federal character principle, with all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory represented.
Each state received 105 positions 35 in the Superintendent Cadre, 10 in the Inspectorate Cadre and 60 in the Customs Assistant Cadre while the FCT received 72 slots under the applicable allocation formula.
He explained that the North West and North Central zones each secured 735 and 702 positions respectively due to their seven-state composition, including the FCT, while the North East, South South and South West each received 630 positions and the South East received 525 positions, reflecting its five-state structure.
The Customs chief also highlighted gender representation, revealing that women secured 839 positions, representing 21.8 per cent of the successful candidates. He noted that female applicants accounted for 21.2 per cent of total applications, meaning women achieved a slightly higher success rate than men.
According to him, female applicants recorded stronger success rates in the Inspectorate and Customs Assistant cadres, although men had a slight advantage in the Superintendent Cadre. He attributed the overall gender distribution to the fact that about 85 per cent of available positions were in physically demanding enforcement, anti-smuggling and border operations, which traditionally attracted fewer female applicants.
He, however, assured that the Service would intensify efforts to encourage more qualified women to apply for operational and enforcement roles in future recruitment exercises.
Speaking on the age profile of successful candidates, the Comptroller-General disclosed that the median age was 26 years, with nearly three-quarters of those recruited below the age of 30. He said the youthful workforce would position the Service to embrace technological innovation, data-driven customs administration and automated risk management over the coming decades.
The Customs boss further acknowledged that the retirement of several senior officers over the past two years contributed to the delayed recruitment process but maintained that the Service remained operationally stable, sustaining both revenue generation and enforcement performance throughout the period.
He credited the stability to the support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Nigeria Customs Service Board led by the Honourable Minister of Finance, and the professionalism of officers and personnel of the Service.
In what he described as the most significant announcement of the briefing, the Comptroller-General declared that the Nigeria Customs Service would henceforth operate an annual recruitment cycle instead of conducting recruitment exercises intermittently.
He disclosed that the 2026 recruitment exercise would commence later this year and expressed confidence that future recruitment would be completed within a single calendar year, from advertisement to publication of the final list, following improvements to the Service’s screening and verification systems.
The Comptroller-General urged successful candidates to await official communication through the contact details provided during their applications and cautioned them against fraudsters, reiterating that recruitment into the Nigeria Customs Service remains entirely free.
He warned that anyone demanding payment in exchange for employment should be reported to the Service and relevant security agencies.
Congratulating the successful candidates, he said they had earned their positions after emerging from a highly competitive process involving more than half a million applicants, while assuring unsuccessful applicants that another opportunity would be available sooner under the new annual recruitment framework.
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