The Nigeria Customs Service on Tuesday announced the final list of successful candidates for its 2024/2025 recruitment exercise, with only 3,852 applicants selected from a total of 573,680 applications.

The Service also disclosed plans to adopt an annual recruitment cycle.

Speaking at a press briefing at the Service headquarters in Abuja, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, said the successful applicants comprise 1,275 candidates for the Superintendent Cadre, 367 for the Inspectorate Cadre, and 2,210 for the Customs Assistant Cadre.

According to Adeniyi, the recruitment exercise, which commenced in December 2024, took 20 months to complete due to the unprecedented volume of applications, administrative challenges, and the multiple stages of screening and verification involved in the process.

“I am pleased to announce the release of the final list of successful candidates in the 2024/2025 Recruitment Exercise of the Nigeria Customs Service. A total of 3,852 candidates have been offered places across the three cadres of entry: 1,275 in the Superintendent Cadre, 367 in the Inspectorate Cadre and 2,210 in the Customs Assistant Cadre. This is the final list, and it concludes the exercise that opened in December 2024.

“Let me begin with the matter uppermost in the minds of many of the young Nigerians who applied, and of their families. This exercise has taken longer than any of us intended.

“On behalf of the Service, I offer my sincere apologies to every applicant who has waited, and to the parents and guardians who waited with them. That wait was real, and I do not diminish it,” he said.

Adeniyi said the Service received 573,680 applications for the available positions, adding that each application underwent a rigorous screening process, including computer-based tests and verification against the National Identity Database.

“The competition was severe. From 573,680 applications, 3,852 candidates were selected. That is an overall success rate of 0.67 per cent, or roughly one place for every 148 applicants,” he said.

The Superintendent Cadre attracted 276,995 applications for 1,275 available positions, representing a success rate of one candidate for every 217 applicants.

The Inspectorate Cadre was the most competitive, drawing 128,604 applications for 367 vacancies—equivalent to one successful candidate for every 350 applicants. Meanwhile, the Customs Assistant Cadre received 168,081 applications for 2,210 positions, translating to one successful applicant for every 76 candidates.

Adeniyi said the recruitment exercise fully complied with the Federal Character principle, ensuring representation from all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

Under the allocation, each state received 105 positions, comprising 35 Superintendent Cadre, 10 Inspectorate Cadre and 60 Customs Assistant Cadre slots, while the Federal Capital Territory was allocated 72 positions.

Adeniyi added that 839 women secured appointments in the recruitment exercise, accounting for 21.8 per cent of the 3,852 successful candidates.

“Women made up 21.2 per cent of the applications received. Their share of the places offered therefore slightly exceeds their share of the applications,” he said.