The Nigeria Customs Service has opened a review window for 397 applicants disqualified from its 2024/2025 recruitment, after protests from candidates who appeared on the final shortlist but were stopped from proceeding to the training college. The Comptroller-General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, ordered a case-by-case reassessment after meeting some of the aggrieved applicants, according to a statement issued by the service’s national public relations officer, Abdullahi Maiwada.
The 397 were flagged for issues including substance abuse, physical fitness, medical records, age discrepancies and documentation irregularities. The service clarified that the substance-use findings excluded cigarettes and alcohol. Some candidates were also disqualified over irregularities detected in the selection process itself.
The review is the latest turn in a recruitment cycle that ran for 20 months, from December 2024 to August 2026. The service received 573,680 applications for 3,852 places: 1,275 in the Superintendent Cadre, 367 in the Inspectorate Cadre and 2,210 in the Customs Assistant Cadre. That works out to roughly one successful candidate for every 149 applicants. The scale helps explain both the duration and the friction.
Screening covered credential and document checks, physical fitness and endurance tests, medical examinations, age verification and drug screening. Appearing on the final shortlist did not amount to enlistment, the service said, because candidates still had to satisfy every prescribed requirement. The review will not waive those standards or guarantee admission, and anyone found to have committed certificate fraud or other criminal conduct will be referred for legal action.
Customs recruitment has a history of contested outcomes. In 2019, the service announced 3,200 positions and shortlisted more than 160,000 candidates for a written test. Allegations of fraud and favouritism followed, and a senator alleged that N1.6 billion was paid to a consultant for the exercise. The service denied the claim. In 2023, the Kano State House of Assembly demanded the cancellation of a cadet recruitment list, describing it as unfair, biased and contrary to federal character principles. The service has consistently maintained that its processes are merit-based.
The current review also unfolds against a staffing squeeze. Customs will lose 1,516 officers to statutory retirement in 2026 and 2027, including 825 this year, according to circulars issued by the service. The departures span every rank, from Deputy Comptroller-General to Customs Assistant. A 16-year recruitment gap left the service top-heavy, with officers who joined at the same time rising through the ranks together and now retiring together. The 2026 budget proposal provides for 15,569 existing personnel and 3,927 new recruits, a modest expansion relative to the volume of applications.
Operationally, the stakes are substantial. Customs generated N4.03 trillion in the first half of 2026, against an annual target of N11.074 trillion, and the Senate has approved a N1.295 trillion expenditure plan for the year. A recruitment process that is seen as opaque or arbitrary can weaken morale and public confidence in an agency responsible for border security, trade facilitation and revenue collection.
The service has directed affected applicants to submit complaints to helpdesk@customs.gov.ng. Those whose cases are accepted will undergo fresh screening. The service has appealed for calm and insisted that the exercise is not a relaxation of standards. Whether the review settles the grievances or merely moves the dispute to a new stage will depend on how transparently the individual assessments are handled.
For now, the 397 applicants have a window to be heard. The larger question is whether a system that drew nearly 574,000 applicants for fewer than 4,000 places can persuade the public that the outcome was merit-based, especially when the service itself acknowledges that the process took far longer than planned and that some candidates had already resigned from jobs and incurred costs in the belief that their appointments were secure.