The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced that its recruitment exercise will now be conducted annually, marking a major shift from the previous practice of recruiting at irregular intervals.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this on Tuesday while briefing journalists at the service headquarters in Abuja during the release of the final list of successful candidates for the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise.
He said the new policy is aimed at creating a predictable manpower planning system that will enable the service to replace retiring personnel promptly while providing young Nigerians with regular opportunities to join the organisation.
According to Adeniyi, the Customs Service has moved away from a recruitment model that required applicants to wait several years before another opportunity became available.
“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.
He disclosed that the 2026 recruitment exercise will commence later this year and is expected to be completed within a single calendar year—from advertisement to the publication of the final list of successful candidates.
“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,” Adeniyi added.
The Comptroller-General explained that the lengthy duration of the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise was largely due to the establishment of a comprehensive recruitment framework that will support future exercises.
According to him, the service invested significant time and resources in developing the systems, screening architecture and verification processes required to ensure a more efficient and transparent recruitment process.
“The systems, the screening architecture and the verification processes built during this exercise now exist, and they will not have to be built again. The delays of this cycle were in significant part the cost of constructing that machinery. That cost has now been paid,” he said.
Adeniyi noted that the annual recruitment model would improve workforce planning by allowing the service to anticipate vacancies arising from retirements and other exits, rather than recruiting only after manpower shortages occur.
“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 added that the new system would also provide greater certainty for unsuccessful applicants by ensuring they know exactly when the next recruitment opportunity will be available.
“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.
The announcement followed the conclusion of the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise, which attracted widespread interest from job seekers across the country.
Adeniyi also revealed that 3,852 candidates had been offered appointments across the service’s three entry cadres. Of the successful candidates, 1,275 were recruited into the Superintendent Cadre, 367 into the Inspectorate Cadre, while 2,210 were enlisted into the Customs Assistant Cadre.
