Federal Character Commission Files Four-Count Case Against Customs Over Recruitment Oversight
The Federal Character Commission has filed criminal proceedings against the Nigeria Customs Service and its Comptroller-General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, over alleged failures connected with the service’s 2025/2026 recruitment exercise.
The four-count charge, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja and marked FHC/ABJ/CR/772/2026, was dated 12 November 2026. The Commission announced the filing on Friday.
According to the FCC’s statement and reports based on the charge sheet, the allegations include failure to provide requested recruitment records, failure to allow monitoring of relevant stages of the exercise, non-compliance with a directive to suspend specified recruitment or training activity pending review, and failure to produce clear recruitment criteria and eligibility guidelines.
Allegations have not been proved
The filing begins a court process. It does not establish that the Customs Service or its comptroller-general committed the alleged offences. The defendants are entitled to respond, and the claims must be tested before the Federal High Court.
The FCC says its intervention is intended to protect the constitutional federal-character principle, which seeks equitable representation across states and geopolitical zones in federal institutions. The Commission had previously called for the recruitment process to be suspended while it examined complaints and requested supporting records.
At the time of publication, the available reports did not include a substantive response from the Nigeria Customs Service to the newly filed counts. MBTV will update the report if the Service or Mr Adeniyi issues a formal response.
Sources
- News Agency of Nigeria report based on the FCC statement
- TheCable report citing the charge sheet
- FCC background statement on the recruitment dispute
MBTV legal note: Every allegation in this report is attributed. No finding of guilt has been made.
