Customs hires just 3,852 out of 573,680 applicants — a 0.7% success rate

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has offered employment to 3,852 candidates across its three entry cadres in its nationwide 2024/2025 recruitment exercise, the Comptroller-General announced Tuesday in Abuja. The number represents roughly 0.7% of the 573,680 applications received, making it one of the most competitive hiring rounds in the agency’s history.

A historic bottleneck for federal jobs

The figure breaks down to roughly one successful candidate for every 148 applicants. The Inspectorate cadre was the most competitive, with 128,604 people vying for 367 positions—a success rate of about one in 350—while the Customs Assistant cadre was the least competitive, drawing 168,081 applications for 2,210 positions, according to a briefing covered by Nairametrics and The Whistler.

Comptroller-General of Customs Adewale Adeniyi, speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on 5 August 2026, described the recruitment as “one of the most competitive” in the Service’s history. “The Service received 573,680 applications for 3,852 places. That is an overall success rate of 0.67 per cent, or roughly one place for every 148 applicants,” Adeniyi said. “Every one of those applications had to be received, verified and assessed.”

Digital vetting and a multi-stage process

The final 3,852 hires fell 75 positions short of the 3,927 vacancies initially approved by the Federal Government. Successful candidates include 1,275 Superintendents, 367 Inspectors, and 2,210 Customs Assistants. Women made up 21% of the intake, with 839 female cadets selected.

The recruitment, advertised in national newspapers on 27 December 2024, involved a multi-stage digital process. After documentary screening, 286,697 candidates were invited to a nationwide Computer-Based Test held between 14 and 21 September 2025, details of which were published in an NCS press release. Final screening required credential verification against the national identity database, and a portal was reopened in April 2026 for candidates to complete on-boarding steps, closing on 10 May 2026.

Recruitment goes annual

Adeniyi announced that NCS recruitment will now be an annual, merit-based exercise, breaking from a historical cycle of roughly once every five years. The move, reported by Arise TV and Vanguard, signals a shift toward more predictable, transparent federal hiring.

The NCS stressed that the recruitment process is free and warned applicants against fraudsters. Successful candidates can now check the final list on the official recruitment portal, complete a medical upload, and accept their provisional offer to receive a Trainee Identification Number. The full list and on-boarding guide are available on the NCS website.