The Nigeria Customs Service will lose 1,516 officers by 2027 following the release of two restricted statutory retirement circulars from its Human Resource and Development Department.
The first circular, dated September 19, 2025, lists 825 officers retiring in 2026, led by 285 Deputy Superintendents and 226 Superintendents. A second circular, dated May 26, 2026, lists 691 officers due to retire in 2027, with Superintendents (200) and Deputy Superintendents (193) again topping the list.Both circulars, signed by Comptroller (Establishment) A.A. Bazuaye, direct affected officers to proceed on mandatory pre-retirement leave under Public Service Rule 100238 and submit three-month retirement notices to the Comptroller-General.
House Customs Committee Chairman Abejide Leke Joseph dismissed claims linking the exercise to the rumoured appointment of a new Comptroller-General, blaming the surge instead on a 16-year recruitment freeze that left officers across multiple service-number brackets reaching seniority simultaneously.
President Tinubu has meanwhile granted Comptroller-General Adewale Adeniyi a final six-month tenure extension to February 2027, to consolidate the National Single Window project and oversee an orderly succession.
