Some candidates listed as successful in the Nigeria Customs Service’s 2024/2025 recruitment exercise have threatened legal action over their exclusion from basic training, despite receiving provisional appointment offers.
The candidates said their names were published in the service’s final list of successful candidates in July 2026 and that they subsequently received provisional appointment offers through the official recruitment portal.
They are demanding “reinstatement into the recruitment process, disclosure of the reasons for their exclusion and the issuance of formal appointment letters to those found eligible.”
In a petition dated 26 October 2026 and addressed to the Comptroller-General of Customs, their solicitors, Timibeleukedi D. Festus, gave the service seven days to review the exclusion and communicate its decision.
The petition read, “Our clients participated in the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise conducted by the Nigerian Customs Service and progressed through the prescribed stages. In July 2026, the Service published its final list of successful candidates, which included the names of our clients.
“Thereafter, individual provisional appointment offers were issued to them through the official recruitment portal. The provisional appointment notifications directed our clients to fulfil specific requirements, including uploading medical certificates of fitness from approved government hospitals and formally accepting their offers within the stipulated period.”
The lawyers said their clients complied with the conditions attached to the offers, including submitting medical fitness certificates from approved government hospitals, accepting the offers within the stipulated period and participating in screening and documentation exercises.
However, they alleged that the candidates were excluded from the subsequent basic training exercise and state command attachment.
“Our clients did as instructed, attended the designated screening and documentation exercise, submitting themselves to the prescribed verification procedures. Notwithstanding their inclusion in the final list of provisional appointment list and participation in the screening exercise, our clients were excluded from the subsequent basic training exercise and applicable state command attachment,” the petition read.
The solicitors argued that the absence of an explanation had raised questions about the consistency of the recruitment process and the application of the relevant guidelines.
They urged the service to review the exclusion and disclose the specific grounds, screening records and criteria used in reaching the decision on each affected candidate.
The petition also demanded disclosure of the recruitment regulations, approved deadlines and administrative directives governing the transition from the publication of the final list and provisional appointment offers to selection for basic training.
The lawyers further requested the reinstatement of candidates found to have met the applicable requirements and the issuance of formal appointment letters and other employment documents to those whose eligibility was confirmed.
They demanded that the outcome of the review and any remedial measures be communicated within seven days of receipt of the petition.
Warning of possible litigation, the solicitors stated, “In the event that the issues raised in the instant correspondence remain unresolved, we have the instructions of our clients to seek the appropriate legal redress without further recourse to you.”
When contacted, the Customs spokesman, Abdullahi Maiwada, shared a statement in which the service acknowledged complaints from applicants who were excluded from the training college despite appearing on the recruitment shortlist.
The statement said the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, had called for a case-by-case review of the complaints after meeting with some of the aggrieved applicants.
“The Service recognises the concerns raised by affected applicants and assures the public that the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, after meeting with some of the aggrieved applicants, has called for a case-by-case reappraisal to ensure legitimate complaints are heard,” it stated.
However, the service clarified that appearing on the final shortlist did not automatically guarantee enlistment, noting that recruitment involved several stages of verification, including credential checks, physical fitness assessments, medical examinations, age verification and drug screening.