Human rights lawyer Femi Falana’s law firm, Falana & Falana’s Chambers, has written to the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), demanding an explanation for the exclusion of some successful candidates from the Service’s basic training exercise despite their inclusion in the final recruitment list, receipt and acceptance of provisional appointment offers, and participation in the prescribed screening and documentation processes.
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The law firm also demanded the disclosure of relevant recruitment records and reconsideration of the decision to exclude the affected candidates, questioning why individuals who had successfully progressed through the recruitment stages were denied participation in the training exercise without any formal explanation.
In a letter dated October 27, 2026, and addressed to the Comptroller-General of Customs at the Service’s headquarters in Abuja, Falana & Falana’s Chambers stated that it was acting on behalf of the affected candidates, whose names and particulars were contained in an accompanying schedule.
According to the letter, the candidates participated in the Nigeria Customs Service’s 2024/2025 recruitment exercise following an advertisement published on December 27, 2024, inviting applications for vacancies across three cadres: Assistant Superintendent of Customs, Assistant Inspector of Customs and Customs Assistant.
The law firm explained that its clients completed the prescribed stages of the recruitment process and were subsequently included in the final list of successful applicants published by the Customs Service in July 2026.
Following the publication of the list, the candidates reportedly accessed the Service’s official recruitment portal, where they received individual notifications confirming that they had been offered provisional appointments into their respective cadres.
Falana’s Chambers stated that the candidates were thereafter directed to upload medical certificates of fitness, comply with the prescribed drug-testing requirements and formally accept their provisional appointment offers on or before August 4, 2026.
The lawyers maintained that all the affected candidates complied with the stipulated requirements within the prescribed period and received electronic confirmations indicating that their respective provisional appointment offers had been successfully accepted.
According to the law firm, the candidates subsequently attended the physical screening and documentation exercise organised by the Nigeria Customs Service, during which they submitted themselves to the required verification procedures, medical assessments, drug tests and physical fitness examinations.
However, despite their inclusion in the final list of successful candidates, acceptance of provisional appointments and participation in the screening and documentation exercise, the affected applicants were allegedly excluded from the subsequent basic training exercise.
Falana & Falana’s Chambers questioned the basis for their exclusion, particularly as the Customs Service had allegedly failed to communicate any formal decision explaining why they were not permitted to proceed to training.
The lawyers maintained that, to the best of their clients’ knowledge, all documents submitted during the recruitment and screening exercises were genuine and verifiable.
They further stated that none of the affected candidates was informed, either during or after the screening exercise, of any adverse finding against them or any failure to satisfy the prescribed recruitment requirements.
The law firm also maintained that the candidates were never notified of any decision withdrawing, cancelling or otherwise invalidating the provisional appointments they had received and accepted through the official recruitment portal.
Falana’s Chambers consequently questioned how candidates who had been officially declared successful, issued provisional appointment offers, confirmed their acceptance and participated in the subsequent verification exercises could be excluded from training without being informed of the grounds for such a decision.
The lawyers insisted that the circumstances required a clear explanation from the leadership of the Nigeria Customs Service, especially considering the various recruitment requirements their clients had reportedly fulfilled.
In its formal demand to the Comptroller-General, the law firm requested an explanation for the exclusion of the affected candidates, disclosure of the relevant recruitment records and reconsideration of the decision preventing them from participating in the basic training exercise.
The firm maintained that its clients’ inclusion in the published final list, their acceptance of provisional appointment offers and their participation in screening and documentation made it necessary for the Service to clarify the basis for their subsequent exclusion.
The letter therefore places the circumstances surrounding the affected candidates’ exclusion before the Comptroller-General, with Falana & Falana’s Chambers seeking an explanation and reconsideration of the decision on behalf of its clients.
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