Over 500 recruitment candidates omitted as Nigeria Customs defends final screening

The Nigeria Customs Service has clarified that candidates whose names appeared on its published recruitment list are not automatically guaranteed employment, following complaints from hundreds of applicants who were not invited for training.

Over 500 candidates raised alarms after they successfully passed computer-based tests, physical examinations, and initial screenings, only to discover that they had been excluded from the final training invitations which were issued ahead of the academy’s resumption on Friday.

Some of the affected candidates claimed they had already resigned from their previous jobs after seeing their names on the published portal.

However, Customs spokesperson, Deputy Comptroller Abdullahi Maiwada, clarified that publishing a candidate’s name simply advanced them to the final physical and medical screening phase, not an automatic appointment.

Maiwada explained that many candidates were dropped during the final phase due to medical unfitness, forged credentials, age discrepancies, and failed drug tests.

He added that the Customs Service runs annual drug tests on all serving officers and cannot afford to spend public funds training new recruits who fail basic drug screenings.

“If we see you with drugs, any element of drugs except tobacco and beer, you will be disqualified…If you have medical issues that wouldn’t warrant you to undergo that rigour, you would also be disqualified. The fact that your name came out and you are invited for screening doesn’t qualify you to be a Customs officer”, Maiwada.

Maiwada stressed that even candidates who were successfully admitted into the Customs Training College are not yet full officers until they complete the academic and physical training and pass out successfully.

The ongoing recruitment process started in December 2024 when Customs declared 3,927 vacancies. Out of over 570,000 applicants, 3,852 were initially selected for final screening.