The Nigeria Customs Service has announced a significant shift in its recruitment policy, stating that future recruitment exercises will be conducted annually instead of at irregular intervals.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, revealed 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. 
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.
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.
He explained that the new structure would make recruitment a continuous process, with the 2026 exercise expected to commence later this year.
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 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.
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.
“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 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.
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.
“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 clarity for unsuccessful applicants by allowing them to prepare for future opportunities without prolonged uncertainty.
“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.
The announcement followed the conclusion of the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise, which attracted significant interest from Nigerians seeking employment in the paramilitary agency.
Adeniyi also announced 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, and 2,210 into the Customs Assistant Cadre.
