BREAKING: Customs to begin yearly hiring, open 2026 recruitment soon

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The Nigeria Customs Service has announced a major shift in its recruitment policy, declaring that future recruitment exercises will be conducted annually instead of at irregular intervals.

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The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this during a press briefing on the release of the final list of successful candidates for the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise at the service headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.

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He said the decision was part of efforts to create a predictable manpower planning system that would enable the service to replace retiring officers promptly while giving young Nigerians regular opportunities to join the organisation.

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According to Adeniyi, the service has moved away from a recruitment model under which applicants had to wait several years before another opportunity became available.

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He explained that the new structure would make recruitment a continuous process, with the 2026 exercise expected to commence later this year.

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According to him, the Customs Service now has the systems, screening framework and verification processes required to conduct future recruitment exercises more efficiently.

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“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.

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“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.”

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The Comptroller-General said the lengthy process experienced during the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise was largely due to the need to establish a robust recruitment architecture capable of supporting future exercises.

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He said the service had invested time and resources in building the framework, adding that subsequent recruitment exercises would benefit from the structures already put in place.

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“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.

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“The delays of this cycle were in significant part the cost of constructing that machinery. That cost has now been paid.”

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Adeniyi said the annual recruitment model would benefit both the service and prospective applicants by improving workforce planning and reducing uncertainty among young Nigerians seeking employment.

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He explained that the approach would enable the service to anticipate manpower gaps arising from retirements and other exits instead of waiting until shortages occur before recruiting.

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“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.

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He added that the new system would also provide clarity for unsuccessful applicants by allowing them to prepare for future opportunities without prolonged uncertainty.

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“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.

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The announcement followed the conclusion of the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise, which attracted significant interest from Nigerians seeking employment in the paramilitary agency.

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Adeniyi also announced that 3,852 candidates had been offered appointments across the service’s three entry cadres.

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Of the successful candidates, 1,275 were recruited into the Superintendent Cadre, 367 into the Inspectorate Cadre, and 2,210 into the Customs Assistant Cadre.

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