Customs: Discipline, character critical as 2025 recruitment screening enters final phase

By Ezurike Ugochukwu

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has commenced the final phase of its 2025 recruitment exercise, warning shortlisted candidates that discipline, character and professional conduct will be as important as physical fitness in determining those who eventually join the Service.

The two-week final screening, which began on Monday, September 7, 2026, at the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), Gwagwalada, Abuja, involves documentation, physical fitness assessments and medical screening for candidates shortlisted for the Assistant Superintendent of Customs II (ASCII), Inspectorate and Customs Assistant cadres.

The exercise, scheduled to end on September 19, is being conducted in batches arranged alphabetically according to candidates’ states of origin to prevent congestion and ensure an orderly process.

Addressing candidates at the screening centre, the Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs in charge of Human Resource Development, Frank Onyeka, congratulated them on reaching the final stage and urged them to comply strictly with the guidelines governing the exercise.

Representing the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, Onyeka stressed that the recruitment process was designed to assess more than the physical requirements expected of prospective officers.

“Beyond physical requirements, your attitude, discipline, and conduct are critical factors in deciding who ultimately joins the Service,” he said.

He urged candidates to remain orderly throughout the exercise, stressing that their conduct at the screening centre was itself part of the broader assessment of their suitability for a career in the Customs Service.

Onyeka said the NCS was working closely with the Customs Police and other relevant units to protect the integrity of the recruitment process and ensure that the exercise was conducted in a secure and transparent manner.

The emphasis on character and discipline comes as the Service seeks to build a workforce capable of meeting its expanding responsibilities in revenue collection, trade facilitation, border security and suppression of illicit trade.

The final phase combines several stages intended to establish the suitability of shortlisted candidates before the conclusion of the recruitment process.

Candidates are undergoing documentation checks, physical fitness assessments and medical evaluations, with the exercise structured to accommodate applicants from the different cadres without overcrowding the screening facilities.

The Assistant Superintendent of Customs cadre is scheduled to complete its screening on Thursday, September 10, while the Inspectorate and Customs Assistant cadres will continue with their respective evaluations until September 19.

The staggered arrangement is expected to allow the Service to maintain effective control of the large number of candidates participating in the exercise.

Also speaking on the conduct of the screening, the Commandant of the Nigeria Customs Command and Staff College, Gwagwalada, Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs Dow Gaura, said administrative innovations and collaboration among relevant agencies had helped streamline the process.

Gaura said the organisation of the exercise reflected the policy direction of the Comptroller-General, particularly his emphasis on continuous operational improvement, collaboration and innovation.

“Everything happening here reflects the policy vision of the Comptroller-General of Customs, which emphasised continuous operational improvement, collaboration, and innovation,” he said.

According to him, the exercise had so far been conducted seamlessly and without casualties.

The Service said the structured screening was also intended to ensure that candidates were evaluated under controlled and standardised conditions before final decisions are made on recruitment.

For the candidates, the final screening represents the last major stage in a recruitment process that will determine who eventually enters the Customs Service.

While physical fitness and medical suitability remain important requirements for prospective officers whose duties may involve demanding operational assignments, Customs authorities have stressed that professional character will also be decisive.

The Service is therefore using the exercise to reinforce expectations of discipline, orderliness and responsible conduct from prospective recruits even before they formally become officers.

The recruitment process also provides an opportunity for the Service to identify candidates capable of adapting to the increasingly technology-driven and intelligence-led nature of modern Customs operations.

With the Service undertaking wider reforms in areas including trade facilitation, risk management, border security and digitalisation, the quality and professionalism of new personnel will remain critical to sustaining those reforms.

As the final screening continues through September 19, the NCS has urged candidates to remain patient, disciplined and compliant with the procedures established for the exercise.

The Service said the ultimate objective was to recruit personnel who combine the required physical and medical fitness with the character, discipline and professional disposition needed to serve effectively.