Customs Recruitment: Why Northern Lawmakers Are Angry With CGC Adeniyi

The Kano State House of Assembly has cried out over the recent recruitment exercise by the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS which it said did not favour the north. The recruitment is not only biased but also unfair to  the region, the Assembly said during Plenary.

The allegation was contained in a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, Kamaluddeen Sani Shawai after the lawmakers deliberated on the matter.

The Assembly reached the decision after a  motion raised by the Majority Leader, Lawal Dala, who argued that the recruitment process lacked transparency and equity, saying the list showed a deliberate plan to shortchanged the north.

The NCS under the leadership of Adewale Adeniyi, its Comptroller General recently released the recruitment list of cadets into the Service, which apparently did not favour the North, a situation that’s now generating protest from the region which has dominated the Service for years.

The region has produced more  CGC than other regions in the country, a situation which analysts say accounted for its dominance. The current CGC is from the south west Nigeria.

His predecessor, Col Hameed Ali (rtd) is from the north, and was in charge of the Service under the administration of the late Muhammadu Buhari.

Hameed’s predecessor, late Abdullahi Diko Inde also hailed from the region.

Instructively, analysts have cited the number of Area Controllers from the north as a pointer to its dominance of the Service, while others says officers from the region, until recently, are in charge of the “juicy Area Commands’ such as Apapa and Tin Can Area Commands in Lagos.

According to the Kano lawmakers, the recent recruitment exercise was fraught with nepotism and “regional imbalance,” maginalised the North and against the federal character.

The lawmakers cited that of the 1,785 cadet officers recruited, over 1,000 were from the South, while the North secured fewer than 540 slots., warning that the development is dangerous for national cohesion.

“This lopsidedness is not only disheartening but dangerous for national unity,” the lawmakers said.

The lawmakers also called on their colleagues in the National Assembly to join them in calling for the cancellation of the recruitment exercise which they said violated the nation’s Constitution.