The Nigeria Customs Service has revealed a fundamental shift in its hiring framework, confirming that prospective recruitment drives will take place every year rather than at unpredictable intervals.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, shared this during a news conference regarding the publication of the final roster of accepted applicants for the 2024/2025 intake at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.
He mentioned that the policy change was part of measures to establish a predictable personnel management approach that will allow the agency to substitute outgoing personnel promptly while offering young citizens consistent chances to join the agency.
According to Adeniyi, the agency has departed from a hiring scheme where candidates were forced to wait multiple years before another window opened.
He clarified that the revised setup would turn enlistment into an ongoing system, with the 2026 drive projected to kick off later this year.
He noted that the Customs Service now possesses the tools, evaluation structures, and validation protocols necessary to execute subsequent intake rounds more smoothly.
“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,” he said.
“The 2026 Recruitment Exercise will open later this year, and it is my firm intention that it will be completed within a single calendar year, from advertisement to final list.”
The Comptroller-General noted that the extended timeline encountered throughout the 2024/2025 selection drive stemmed mainly from the necessity to construct a solid recruitment mechanism fitted to handle subsequent intake rounds.
Also see: “Go Back to School” — Sowore Rates Tinubu Administration ‘F9’ Ahead of 2027 NEC Approves $4.5bn NNPC Project Gazelle 2 Refinancing to Boost Nigeria’s Reserves
He added that the organization had dedicated time and assets to establishing the foundation, emphasizing that upcoming enlistment drives will profit from the infrastructure already constructed.
“The systems, the screening architecture and the verification processes built during this exercise now exist, and they will not have to be built again,” he said.
“The delays of this cycle were in significant part the cost of constructing that machinery. That cost has now been paid.”
Adeniyi remarked that the yearly intake structure will assist both the organization and potential candidates by refining staffing strategies and easing ambiguity for young jobseekers across Nigeria.
He elaborated that the strategy will permit the agency to foresee staffing vacancies resulting from retirements and other departures rather than waiting for deficits to arise prior to hiring.
“An annual cycle serves the Service and the applicant equally. It allows us to plan our manpower against known retirements rather than in reaction to them,” he said.
He further noted that the updated model will offer clarity to unselected candidates by enabling them to get ready for future cycles without extended doubt.
“And 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,” he stated.
This declaration came after the finalization of the 2024/2025 enlistment round, which generated substantial enthusiasm from citizens seeking employment within the paramilitary body.
Adeniyi also revealed that 3,852 applicants were issued employment offers across the agency’s three entrance ranks.
Among the selected applicants, 1,275 were admitted into the Superintendent Cadre, 367 into the Inspectorate Cadre, and 2,210 into the Customs Assistant Cadre.
