The Federal Character Commission has instituted a four-count criminal charge against the Nigeria Customs Service and its Comptroller-General, Bashir Adeniyi, over alleged violations of federal character requirements in the agency’s 2025/2026 recruitment exercise.
The commission accused the Customs Service and its chief of obstructing its statutory oversight responsibilities by allegedly withholding recruitment records, disregarding monitoring requirements and continuing the exercise despite a directive to suspend it.
The charges, reportedly filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, followed months of disagreements between the two agencies over the recruitment process.
In the first count, the commission alleged that the Customs Service failed to submit its nominal rolls for the exercise despite receiving a formal request dated March 25, 2026.
It also accused Adeniyi of allowing the agency to disregard the commission’s directives, allegedly contravening Section 14(3)(b) of the Federal Character Commission (Establishment, etc.) Act, 2004.
The commission further alleged that the defendants failed to make themselves available for monitoring at critical stages of the recruitment exercise between September 14 and October 7, 2026.
Another count accused the Customs Service of proceeding with recruitment and training activities despite receiving a letter dated October 23, 2026, directing it to suspend the exercise pending a review.
The commission also alleged that the agency failed to preserve relevant recruitment records or grant it access to monitor the process.
In the fourth count, the defendants were accused of failing to provide clear eligibility requirements and comprehensive recruitment guidelines despite repeated requests between January 30 and October 20.
According to the commission, the alleged failure prevented it from determining how vacancies were distributed among states and geopolitical zones in line with the federal character principle.
The offences are punishable under Section 15 of the Federal Character Commission Act.
The commission listed three witnesses for the trial: Abdulwasiu K. Bawa-Allah, chairman of its Committee on Financial Services; Isa Jibrin Bida, a committee member; and Usman Yaruwa, the committee’s clerk.
The legal action followed complaints from applicants who alleged that they were shortlisted after screening and medical examinations but were subsequently excluded from the training programme.
On October 23, the commission directed the Customs Service to suspend its recruitment training over alleged irregularities in the selection process.
It claimed that hundreds of applicants who had completed the required screening and medical examinations were excluded, while some individuals whose names were absent from the published final list allegedly received invitations.
The commission also questioned whether the recruitment exercise had been properly monitored and whether the Customs Service obtained the necessary certificate of compliance before inviting successful candidates for training.
The controversy emerged after the Customs Service announced that more than 3,000 applicants had been successful out of 573,680 applications received.
