Only 3,852 candidates were selected out of 573,680 applications received by Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) for its 2024/2025 recruitment exercise
The Comptroller General of the Service, Adewale Adeniyi who announced the release of the final list of successful candidates during a briefing on Tuesday, says the list covers the Superintendent, Inspectorate and Customs Assistant cadres, with all 36 states and the FCT represented.
The Custom Boss apologised for the delay and announced that Customs will now conduct recruitment annually, stating that the next exercise will begin later this year.
The process according to him, was thorough, fair and free, urging applicants to report anyone demanding payment.
“I am pleased to announce the release of the final list of successful candidates in the 2024/2025 Recruitment Exercise of the Nigeria Customs Service. A total of 3,852 candidates have been offered places across the three cadres of entry: 1,275 in the Superintendent Cadre, 367 in the Inspectorate Cadre and 2,210 in the Customs Assistant Cadre. This is the final list, and it concludes the exercise that opened in December 2024.
“I owe you an explanation rather than an excuse. Several factors extended the timeline. The volume alone was extraordinary: the Service received 573,680 applications for 3,852 places. Every one of those applications had to be received, verified and assessed. The Service also carried, over this same period, an unusually high rate of retirement and turnover among its senior and management cadre, which placed real strain on the administrative machinery that runs an exercise of this size"
“Above all, however, the time was taken because the Service was determined that the right candidates should emerge. Every candidate on this list has passed through several distinct layers of scrutiny: application screening, computer-based examination, and verification of credentials against the national identity database. Where a record did not reconcile, we went back and checked it again. Successful candidates will now proceed to physical and medical assessment, and to a final review at Board level. That is the honest reason this list is issued in August rather than in March.
“I will say one further thing, and I will say it plainly. An exercise of this scale, in a country of this size, attracts interest from many quarters. That is neither unexpected nor improper in itself. What I can tell you is that the list I place before you today is one I am prepared to defend on its merits, and the standards the Service set for itself at the beginning of this process are the standards that produced it ," he stated
The competition was severe. From 573,680 applications, 3,852 candidates were selected. That is an overall success rate of 0.67 per cent, or roughly one place for every 148 applicants.
The intensity differed by cadre. The Superintendent Cadre drew 276,995 applications for 1,275 places, a ratio of one in 217. The Inspectorate Cadre was the most competitive of the 3: 128,604 applications for 367 places, or one in 350. The Customs Assistant Cadre received 168,081 applications for 2,210 places, one in 76.”
The Comptroller General encouraged candidates whose names did not make it to the final list not to lose faith, adding that there were not enough openings to employ more applicants, despite many meeting the NCS requirements.
“I want to speak directly to the more than 560,000 Nigerians who applied and whose names are not on this list. You were not rejected; you were unlucky in a field of extraordinary competition.
“Many of you met every requirement the Service set. There were simply not enough places. I encourage you to remain engaged with the Service, to keep your credentials current, and to apply again. As I will explain shortly, the next opportunity is not years away.”
He explained that the recruitment exercise reflected the national colouration.
“The Service is a national institution, and this exercise reflects that. All 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory are represented on the final list, without exception.
“The allocation is equal across states by design. Each of the 36 states receives an identical number of places in each cadre: 35 in the Superintendent Cadre, 10 in the Inspectorate Cadre and 60 in the Customs Assistant Cadre, giving 105 places to every state. The Federal Capital Territory receives 72 places in accordance with the applicable formula. No state received more than another.”
Aggregated by geopolitical zone, the North West received 735 slots and the North Central 702, reflecting the seven states in each of those zones together with the Federal Capital Territory.
The North East, South South and South West each got 630 places, being six states apiece, and the South East got a total of 525, being five.
The NCS said the variation between zones arose solely from the number of states each contains, adding that not one place was allocated at the discretion of any officer of this Service.
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