News Update

THE Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has received an overwhelming 573,519 applications for its 2024/2025 recruitment exercise, just one week after the recruitment portal was opened.

The number of applicants comes after the Federal Government, through Finance Minister Olawale Edun, confirmed the recruitment of 3,927 new officers into the NCS.

The announcement is part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the agency’s capacity and improve national security and revenue generation.

In an update on the recruitment process, Abdullahi Maiwada, the National Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the NCS, provided a detailed breakdown of the applications received, emphasising the competitive nature of the selection process.

“We have two categories of officers: support staff, who are professionals, and general duty officers”, he said.

According to Maiwada, the majority of applications came from individuals seeking positions in the general duty officer roles, which are divided into three rank categories. In the superintendent cadre for general duty, a total of 249,218 candidates have applied. For the superintendent cadre (support staff), 27,722 applicants with higher national diplomas (HNDs) and university degrees have expressed interest in joining the NCS.

The inspector cadre, requiring candidates to have either a National Certificate in Education (NCE) or a National Diploma, attracted 115,634 applications for general duty positions. Additionally, 12,952 applicants sought support staff roles within this cadre. Maiwada also shared insights into the Customs assistant cadre, which is open to candidates with secondary school certificates. This category is split into two groups: those with at least five credits, including Mathematics and English, and those who lack the required credits.

For the general duty positions in this cadre, 153,593 applicants applied, while 14,400 sought support staff roles.

“The interest in the recruitment process has been tremendous,” Maiwada concluded, underscoring the demand for these critical positions in the NCS. With over half a million applications submitted, the NCS now faces the daunting task of sorting through the applicants to select the best candidates to fill the 3,927 positions available. As the selection process continues, applicants eagerly await the outcome, hoping to secure a role in one of the country’s most vital institutions.