Precious Nwonu, Enugu
The Federal Character Commission (FCC) has instituted a four-count criminal case against the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and its Comptroller-General, Bashir Adeniyi, over alleged breaches of federal character provisions in the Service’s 2025/2026 recruitment exercise.
The charges were filed on Thursday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, with the commission accusing the defendants of withholding recruitment records, preventing monitoring of the exercise and ignoring directives to suspend recruitment and training activities.
In the first count, the FCC alleged that the Customs Service failed to submit its nominal rolls for the 2025 recruitment exercise despite receiving a formal request dated March 25, 2026.
The commission also accused Adeniyi of negligently or deliberately allowing the Service to disregard its request.
The second count alleged that the Customs Service and its head failed to make themselves available for the commission’s monitoring of key stages of the 2025/2026 recruitment exercise between September 14 and October 7, 2026.
In the third count, the FCC accused the defendants of proceeding with recruitment and training activities despite receiving a letter dated October 23, 2026, directing the Service to suspend the exercise pending a review.
It further alleged that the Customs Service failed to preserve relevant records and provide access for the commission to monitor the process.
The fourth count accused the defendants of failing to provide clear eligibility requirements and comprehensive recruitment guidelines despite repeated requests made between January 30 and October 20, 2026.
According to the commission, the alleged omissions prevented it from determining the distribution of vacancies across states and geopolitical zones.
The charges were filed under Sections 14(3) and 15 of the Federal Character Commission (Establishment, etc.) Act, Cap. F7, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
The commission listed three proposed witnesses, including the Chairman of its Committee on Financial Services, Abdulwasiu K. Bawa-Allah; a committee member, Isa Jibrin Bida; and the committee’s clerk, Usman Yaruwa.
It also indicated its intention to tender 14 documents as evidence, including correspondence exchanged with the Customs Service, a report on the agency and records of its October 22 press conference.
The prosecution further reserved the right to call additional witnesses if considered necessary during the trial.
The legal action follows a disagreement between the FCC and the Customs Service over the conduct of the agency’s 2024/2025 recruitment exercise.
The dispute centred on complaints by applicants who claimed they were shortlisted and completed screening and medical assessments but were subsequently excluded from the training programme.
On October 23, the commission reportedly directed the Customs Service to suspend its ongoing recruitment training, alleging that hundreds of candidates who had completed the required processes were not invited, while some individuals whose names were absent from the published final list allegedly received training invitations.
The FCC also questioned whether the recruitment had been properly monitored and whether the Service obtained the required certificate of compliance before inviting candidates for training.
The Customs Service had announced that 3,852 applicants were successful in the 2024/2025 recruitment exercise out of 573,680 applications received.
The final lists for the Superintendent, Inspectorate and Customs Assistant cadres were published between July 28 and 30, 2026.
However, the Service later acknowledged screening concerns involving 397 applicants and announced a review process following complaints from candidates who were shortlisted but subsequently disqualified.
On October 19, Adeniyi ordered a case-by-case reassessment of the complaints. The Customs Service maintained that being shortlisted did not automatically guarantee successful enlistment.
