Customs Invites 3,852 Recruits for Final Screening in Abuja
The Nigeria Customs Service has invited 3,852 successful candidates for physical screening and documentation as it enters the final stage of its 2024/2025 recruitment exercise.
The exercise is scheduled to take place at the Nigeria Customs Command and Staff College, Gwagwalada, Abuja, following a highly competitive recruitment process that attracted 573,680 applications. Only 3,852 candidates were successful, representing a success rate of 0.67 per cent, or approximately one successful candidate out of every 148 applicants.
The latest development was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Deputy Comptroller of Customs and National Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Maiwada, on behalf of the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi.
The Service directed all shortlisted candidates to appear for the screening and documentation exercise with the original and photocopies of their required documents.
The documents include the National Identification Number, original birth certificate or declaration of age, educational certificates, certificate of state of origin, two recent passport photographs, completed guarantor’s form and NYSC certificate, where applicable.
Candidates are also required to appear in a white T-shirt, shorts and canvas shoes for the exercise.
The Service warned candidates to report strictly on the dates assigned to their respective states and cadres, stressing that attendance is compulsory. It added that failure to appear as scheduled could result in disqualification from the recruitment process.
The latest stage comes nearly two years after the recruitment exercise commenced in December 2024. The prolonged process had raised concerns among applicants, prompting the Customs management to apologise for the delay when it released the final list in August.
Speaking during the announcement of the final list, Adeniyi said the Service received an unusually high number of applications, which were subjected to several stages of screening and verification.
He said, “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.”
The Customs boss described the competition as intense, noting that 573,680 applicants competed for fewer than 4,000 positions.
He said, “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.”
Competition was particularly stiff in some of the cadres. The Superintendent Cadre received 276,995 applications for 1,275 positions, amounting to roughly one successful candidate for every 217 applicants.
Similarly, 128,604 applications were received for 367 positions in the Inspectorate Cadre, representing about one successful applicant in every 350. The Customs Assistant Cadre received 168,081 applications for 2,210 positions, translating to approximately one successful candidate for every 76 applicants.
The Service had earlier opened a portal for successful candidates to update their information ahead of the final interview and physical screening. Candidates were also required to upload medical certificates of fitness issued by government recognised hospitals and accept their provisional offers of appointment.
With the physical screening and documentation now scheduled, candidates who successfully complete the exercise will receive further instructions on the subsequent stages of the recruitment process.
The Customs Service also reiterated its warning against fraudsters seeking to exploit the recruitment exercise, stressing that recruitment into the Service is free.
Adeniyi warned candidates against paying anyone in exchange for employment, saying, “No candidate has paid, and no candidate should pay, any person or group for a place on this list. Anyone who solicits payment on our behalf is a criminal, and should be reported to the Service and to the security agencies.”
The Comptroller General also announced plans to move the Service to an annual recruitment cycle, ending the previous practice of conducting recruitment irregularly.
He said, “Recruitment will no longer be an occasional event undertaken every several years. It will be a standing, predictable, yearly process.”
According to him, the 2026 recruitment exercise is expected to commence later this year and is intended to be completed within one calendar year, from advertisement to the release of the final list.
The new approach is expected to provide greater certainty for job seekers while enabling the Service to plan its recruitment around projected retirements and manpower requirements.