The Nigeria Customs Service on Tuesday released the final list of successful candidates for its 2024/2025 recruitment, with only 3,852 applicants securing places out of 573,680 people who applied for the available positions.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, who announced the release of the list during a press briefing in Abuja, said the recruitment recorded one of the highest levels of competition in the history of the service, with just 0.67 per cent of applicants making the final selection.
Adeniyi explained that the successful candidates were selected across the three entry cadres of the service, comprising 1,275 candidates for the Superintendent Cadre, 367 for the Inspectorate Cadre and 2,210 for the Customs Assistant Cadre.
According to him, the announcement marked the conclusion of a recruitment process that began in December 2024 and was delayed by the huge number of applications, administrative challenges and the need to ensure a transparent selection process.
The recruitment exercise lasted 20 months, from its commencement in December 2024 to the release of the final list in August 2026.
“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.
“Let me begin with the matter uppermost in the minds of many of the young Nigerians who applied, and of their families. This exercise has taken longer than any of us intended.
“On behalf of the Service, I offer my sincere apologies to every applicant who has waited, and to the parents and guardians who waited with them. That wait was real, and I do not diminish it.”
Adeniyi said the Service received an unprecedented number of applications, all of which had to undergo multiple stages of verification before the final list was produced.
“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,” he said.
The Comptroller-General added that the retirement and turnover of senior officers during the period also affected the administrative capacity of the Service to conclude the exercise earlier.
“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 2026 rather than in March,” he said.
The Comptroller-General highlighted the intense competition that characterised the exercise, noting that thousands of qualified Nigerians could not secure placement because of the limited number of available slots.
He said the overall selection ratio showed that only one candidate emerged from every 148 applicants.
“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,” Adeniyi said.
The Superintendent Cadre recorded 276,995 applications for 1,275 positions, representing one successful candidate for every 217 applicants.
The Inspectorate Cadre was the most competitive category, attracting 128,604 applications for only 367 slots, meaning one applicant succeeded out of every 350 candidates.
The Customs Assistant Cadre, which had the highest number of available positions, received 168,081 applications for 2,210 slots, representing one successful applicant out of every 76 candidates.
Adeniyi urged unsuccessful applicants not to lose hope, assuring them that another opportunity would come sooner than expected.
“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 said.
The Comptroller-General also disclosed that the recruitment process complied fully with the Federal Character principle, with all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory represented on the final list.
He said every state received an equal allocation of 105 positions, comprising 35 slots in the Superintendent Cadre, 10 in the Inspectorate Cadre and 60 in the Customs Assistant Cadre.
“The allocation is equal across states by design. Each of the 36 states receives an identical number of places in each cadre.
“No state received more than another. Not one place was allocated at the discretion of any officer of this Service. The Federal Character principle has been applied in full,” Adeniyi said.
The Federal Capital Territory received 72 positions in line with the applicable allocation formula.
By geopolitical zones, the North-West received 735 positions, while the North-Central got 702 slots, including the FCT allocation.
The North-East, South-South and South-West zones received 630 positions each, while the South-East received 525 positions.
Adeniyi disclosed that women accounted for 839 of the successful candidates, representing 21.8 per cent of the total intake.
He said the figure was slightly higher than the proportion of female applicants, noting that women had a marginally better chance of selection than men.
“Women made up 21.2 per cent of the applications received. Their share of the places offered therefore slightly exceeds their share of the applications,” he said.
The Comptroller-General explained that 121,479 women applied for the exercise, with 839 eventually selected, representing one successful candidate out of every 144 female applicants.
For male applicants, 3,011 candidates were selected from 452,198 applications, representing one successful candidate out of every 150 male applicants.
He, however, acknowledged that the Service needed to do more to encourage women to participate in future recruitment exercises, especially in enforcement roles.
“The Service is not content to leave the matter there. We intend to work more deliberately on attracting qualified women into the enforcement stream in future exercises because a Customs administration that reflects the country it serves is a stronger administration,” Adeniyi said.
The Comptroller-General said the new intake would strengthen the future workforce of the Service, noting that the median age of successful candidates was 26 years.
He explained that those selected would form the backbone of the Service as it transitions towards technology-driven customs administration.
“This is a young intake. The median age of the successful candidates is 26 years.
“These officers will carry the Service through the next three decades of its work, and they are entering at a point when Customs administration worldwide is being reshaped by technology, data and automated risk management,” he said.
Adeniyi warned successful candidates and the public against fraudsters who may attempt to exploit the recruitment exercise by demanding payment for placements.
He reiterated that recruitment into the Nigeria Customs Service remained free and anyone demanding money in exchange for employment should be reported.
“Recruitment into the Nigeria Customs Service is free. 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,” he said.
The successful candidates, he added, would be contacted directly through the contact details provided during their applications and should rely only on official communication channels.
The Comptroller-General congratulated the successful applicants, saying they had earned their places after competing against more than half a million Nigerians.
“To the 3,852 men and women whose names appear on this list: congratulations. You have earned your place in a field of more than half a million,” Adeniyi said.
“You are joining a Service with a proud tradition and a demanding standard, and you will be held to that standard from your first day.”
The Nigeria Customs Service recruitment exercise opened in December 2024 as part of efforts to strengthen manpower following years of retirements and increased responsibilities linked to trade facilitation, border security, revenue generation and anti-smuggling operations.
The latest recruitment comes amid ongoing reforms by the Service aimed at improving automation, intelligence-driven enforcement and operational efficiency across Nigeria’s borders and ports.
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