Some names smuggled into recruitment list – Customs

The Nigeria Customs Service has alleged that some individuals removed names and replaced them in its ongoing recruitment exercise.

The spokesman of the Service, Abdullahi Maiwada, made this disclosure in an interview on BBC Hausa, stating that the agency has also identified names that should not be among those called for training.

“Some names were smuggled into the list. We won’t train them,” he said.

He said the publication of names does not mean final appointment, as the recruitment process is still ongoing.

Recall that the controversy started after the Customs published the final list of 3,852 successful candidates from 573,680 applicants for its 2024/2025 recruitment exercise.

Some candidates whose names appeared on the published list later complained that they were not invited for training scheduled to begin on October 9 at the Customs Training College.

Others alleged that more than 500 candidates were excluded while people whose names were not on the published list received training invitations.

The Customs Service, however, said it is reviewing the cases of 397 applicants who were disqualified during screening over issues relating to age, academic qualifications, medical fitness, drug use and document forgery.

Maiwada said the Comptroller-General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, has directed a case-by-case review of complaints, but warned that the review does not guarantee automatic admission into the training college.

He added that anyone found to have engaged in certificate fraud will face prosecution.