No fewer than 1,516 personnel of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), including five Deputy Comptrollers-General (DCGs), are scheduled to retire between 2026 and 2027 following the release of statutory retirement lists by the Service, SavannahNewnow Reports.
The retirement notices, contained in restricted circulars issued by the Human Resource and Development Department of the NCS, indicate that 825 officers will retire in 2026, while another 691 officers are expected to leave the Service in 2027.
The circulars, signed by Comptroller of Establishment, A.A. Bazuaye, on behalf of the Deputy Comptroller-General in charge of Human Resources and Development, directed all affected officers to proceed on mandatory pre-retirement leave in line with Public Service Rules.
According to the 2026 retirement list, officers across various cadres from Deputy Comptroller-General to Customs Assistant II will disengage from active service upon attaining the statutory retirement age or completing the required years of service.
A breakdown of the 2026 retirements shows that the Deputy Superintendent of Customs cadre accounts for the highest number with 285 officers, followed by the Superintendent of Customs cadre with 226 officers.
Other affected ranks include Assistant Superintendent of Customs I (64), Chief Superintendent of Customs (61), Chief Customs Officer (53), Deputy Customs Officer (51), and Assistant Customs Officer (46).
The list also includes 13 Assistant Comptrollers-General and five Deputy Comptrollers-General.
Similarly, the draft retirement list for 2027 reveals that 691 officers will leave the Service, with Superintendents of Customs accounting for the largest number at 200 officers, followed by Deputy Superintendents of Customs with 193 officers.
The circulars emphasized that all affected officers must comply with Public Service Rule 100238 and relevant Federal Government directives by proceeding on pre-retirement leave three months before their effective retirement dates.
The Service also opened a window for complaints and corrections regarding the 2027 retirement list, directing officers with legitimate concerns to forward them to the office of the Deputy Comptroller-General (HRD) on or before July 31, 2026.
Among the senior officers affected by the retirement exercise are Deputy Comptrollers-General Omale, Nnadi, Chiroma, Adeola MRS, and Niagwan, alongside several Assistant Comptrollers-General whose retirement dates fall within 2026.
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.
According to him, the retirements are purely statutory and have no connection with the appointment of a new Comptroller-General of Customs.
“The Civil Service Rules are very clear. Retirement after 35 years in service or at the age of 60 is not by compulsion; it is by law. Therefore, suggestions that any officer would be retired to create room for another appointment are false and misleading,” he said.
Abejide attributed the unusually large number of retirements to a prolonged recruitment gap within the Service, noting that officers recruited within similar periods had risen through the ranks almost simultaneously and were now reaching retirement thresholds at the same time.
He explained that the development had resulted in a top-heavy structure within the NCS, leading to a wave of retirements across senior and middle-level ranks.
Meanwhile, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently approved a final six-month extension of the tenure of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, allowing him to remain in office until February 2027.
The presidency said the extension would enable Adeniyi to consolidate ongoing reforms, including the implementation of the National Single Window project, while ensuring a smooth succession process and overseeing promotions and statutory retirements within the Service.
The mass retirement exercise is expected to significantly reshape the personnel structure of the Nigeria Customs Service over the next two years.
