Nigeria Customs Service Unveils List of 3,852 Successful Recruits

The Nigeria Customs Service has finally released the list of successful candidates for its 2024/2025 recruitment exercise. Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, made the announcement during a press conference in Abuja, stating that a total of 3,852 applicants were selected out of 573,680 who applied for the available positions. According to Adeniyi, the recruitment process was highly competitive, with only 0.67 per cent of applicants making the final cut. The successful candidates were chosen across the three entry cadres of the service, consisting of 1,275 candidates for the Superintendent Cadre, 367 for the Inspectorate Cadre, and 2,210 for the Customs Assistant Cadre. Adeniyi explained that the announcement marked the end of a recruitment process that began in December 2024 and was delayed due to the large number of applications and the need to ensure a transparent selection process. The recruitment exercise took 20 months to complete, from its commencement in December 2024 to the release of the final list in August 2026. Adeniyi expressed his apologies to the applicants who had to wait for the outcome, stating that the wait was real and the Service did not take it lightly. He attributed the delay to the unprecedented number of applications, which all had to undergo multiple stages of verification before the final list was produced. The Comptroller-General also mentioned that the retirement and turnover of senior officers during the period affected the administrative capacity of the Service to conclude the exercise earlier. Adeniyi emphasized that the Service was determined to ensure that the right candidates emerged, and every candidate on the list had passed through several layers of scrutiny, including application screening, computer-based examination, and verification of credentials against the national identity database. The successful candidates will now proceed to physical and medical assessment, and to a final review at Board level. Adeniyi highlighted the intense competition that characterized the exercise, noting that thousands of qualified Nigerians could not secure placement due to the limited number of available slots. He encouraged unsuccessful applicants not to lose hope, assuring them that another opportunity would come sooner than expected. The Comptroller-General also disclosed that the recruitment process complied fully with the Federal Character principle, with all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory represented on the final list.