Retirement Bombshell: Five DCGs, 1,511 Other Officers to Exit Customs by 2027

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is set to witness a major personnel shake-up as 1,516 officers, including five Deputy Comptrollers-General (DCGs), are scheduled to retire between 2026 and 2027 under statutory retirement provisions.

The retirement plans were contained in two internal circulars issued by the Service’s Human Resource and Development Department and signed by the Comptroller, Establishment, A.A. Bazuaye, on behalf of the Deputy Comptroller-General in charge of Human Resources and Development.

According to the documents, 825 officers are expected to retire in 2026, while another 691 officers will leave the Service in 2027.

The retirement exercise affects officers across various cadres, ranging from Deputy Comptroller-General to Customs Assistant II.

The 2026 retirement list includes five Deputy Comptrollers-General, 13 Assistant Comptrollers-General, 61 Chief Superintendents of Customs, 226 Superintendents of Customs and 285 Deputy Superintendents of Customs, among others.

For the 2027 exercise, the Superintendent of Customs cadre accounts for the highest number of retirements with 200 officers, followed by 193 Deputy Superintendents of Customs. Other affected cadres include Chief Superintendents, Assistant Superintendents, Chief Customs Officers and Assistant Comptrollers-General.

The circulars directed all affected officers to proceed on mandatory pre-retirement leave in line with Public Service Rule 100238 and relevant Federal Government guidelines. They were also instructed to submit three-month retirement notices to the Comptroller-General of Customs before their official exit dates.

Among senior officers listed for retirement are Deputy Comptrollers-General Omale, Nnadi, Chiroma, Adeola and Niagwan, as well as several Assistant Comptrollers-General across different commands and departments.

Reacting to reports linking the retirements to succession plans within the Service, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise, Abejide Leke Joseph, dismissed such claims.

He explained that the retirements were purely statutory and unrelated to any planned appointment of a new Comptroller-General.

According to him, the large number of officers exiting the Service is largely due to a prolonged recruitment gap that created a concentration of officers within similar service categories.

The development comes shortly after President Bola Tinubu approved a final six-month tenure extension for Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, allowing him to remain in office until February 2027 to complete ongoing reforms and oversee an orderly succession process within the Service.