Nigeria Customs chief prosecuted over recruitment violations
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Punch
The Federal Character Commission has filed four charges against the Nigeria Customs Service and its Comptroller-General Bashir Adeniyi over alleged violations of the 2025/2026 recruitment rules. The case was brought before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, according to Punch.
Nigeria’s Federal Character Commission on Thursday initiated criminal proceedings against the Nigeria Customs Service, the Nigerian customs administration, and its Comptroller-General Bashir Adewale Adeniyi over alleged violations of federal representation rules during the 2025-2026 recruitment, according to the charge sheet seen by Punch. The case was filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The commission accuses Customs of failing to submit the nominal lists for the 2025 recruitment despite a request dated 25 March 2026, and Bashir Adeniyi of allowing the administration to ignore the request. It also alleges that the two defendants failed to allow monitoring of the recruitment between 14 September and 7 October, then continued recruitment and training despite a suspension directive dated 23 October. The commission further says that the eligibility criteria and full recruitment guidelines were not provided despite several requests, preventing it from assessing the distribution of positions among states and zones.
