THE Federal Character Commission (FCC) has filed a four-count criminal charge against the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and its Comptroller-General, Bashir Adeniyi, over alleged breaches of federal character requirements in the Service’s 2025/2026 recruitment exercise.
The charge, reportedly filed on Thursday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, according to Punch, accused the Customs Service and Adeniyi of obstructing the commission’s oversight of the recruitment exercise by withholding relevant records, disregarding monitoring requirements and proceeding with the recruitment despite a suspension directive.
In the first count, the commission alleged that the NCS failed to submit its nominal rolls for the recruitment exercise despite receiving a formal request in a letter dated March 25, 2026.
It also accused Adeniyi of allowing the Service to disregard the commission’s request, an alleged violation of Section 14(3)(b) of the Federal Character Commission (Establishment, etc.) Act, 2004.
“That you Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, being an officer of the 1st Defendant, recklessly, negligently or willfully acquiesced in the 1st Defendant’s failure to comply with the directives of the Commission, thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 14(3) (b) of the Federal Character Commission (Establishment, etc.) Act, Cap. F7, LFN 2004 and punishable under Section 15 of the Federal Character Commission (Establishment, etc.) Act, Cap. F7, LFN 2004,” the first count read.
The second count accused the defendants of failing to submit themselves to the commission for monitoring at relevant stages of the recruitment exercise between September 14 and October 7, 2026.
The Commission further alleged that the Customs Service continued its recruitment and training activities despite receiving a letter dated October 23, 2026, directing it to suspend the exercise pending a review.
According to the third count, the Service ignored the directive and failed to preserve relevant recruitment records or provide the commission access to monitor the process.
In the fourth count, the commission accused the defendants of failing to provide clear eligibility requirements and comprehensive recruitment guidelines despite repeated requests between January 30 and October 20, 2026.
It said the failure prevented it from determining the distribution of vacancies across states and geopolitical zones, as required under the federal character principle.
The charges were filed under Section 14(3) of the Federal Character Commission Act and are punishable under Section 15 of the legislation.
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 court action followed a disagreement between the two agencies over the Customs Service’s recruitment process, particularly complaints by applicants who said they were shortlisted but subsequently excluded from the training programme.
On October 23, the commission directed the NCS to suspend its recruitment training, alleging irregularities in the selection process.
It claimed that hundreds of applicants who had completed screening and medical examinations were excluded from the training, while some candidates whose names were absent from the published final list allegedly received invitations.
The commission also questioned whether the recruitment exercise had been adequately monitored and whether the Customs Service obtained the required certificate of compliance before inviting successful candidates for training.
Its reactions followed the Custom Service’s announcement that over 3,000 applicants were successful in the recruitment exercise out of 573,680 applications received.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M