Eshiorameh Sebastian in Abuja
The Presidency has defended a recent recruitment drive by the Nigeria Customs Service, which has been criticised for being heavily skewed against the northern part of the country.
The justification came after the Kano State House of Assembly condemned the exercise, alleging a “pattern of regional imbalance and nepotism.”
According to the state lawmakers, of the 1,785 cadet officers recruited, over 1,000 were selected from the southern states, while the North secured fewer than 540 slots. The Assembly described the lopsided allocation as “disheartening and dangerous for national unity,” and unanimously called for the recruitment list to be cancelled, arguing it violated the constitutional principle of federal character.
In response, Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, on Thursday, stated that headlines focusing on the imbalance are “mischievous and for ethnic baiting.” He explained that the allocation of slots in federal civil service recruitment is typically based on the existing staff nominal roll, which aims to ensure balanced representation across all states.
Mr Ajayi argued that where a significant imbalance exists, some states are deliberately given more slots to correct it. He suggested that Lagos State, for example, has historically had low representation in the federal civil service because its residents often prefer private-sector jobs or business ventures.
To provide historical context, he referenced the memoir of former President Shehu Shagari, “Beckon To Serve.” Mr Ajayi recounted that Shagari, while serving as Minister of Establishment and Training in the 1960s, faced a massive disparity in federal civil service staffing. At that time, the entire North had fewer than 200 staff, while the South-East had nearly 2,000 and the South-West over 1,000.
According to the account, Shagari conducted a recruitment drive that resulted in over 300 northerners and fewer than 200 southerners being hired. The next day, southern newspapers reportedly ran headlines such as “Hausa/Fulanis take over Federal Civil Service.” President Shagari had explained that even with the higher recruitment figure for the North, the region still had far fewer civil servants overall than the South.
The Nigeria Customs Service has yet to issue an independent statement on the matter. The Kano State Assembly is urging northern representatives in the National Assembly to take urgent steps to ensure the recruitment is cancelled and re-done to ensure fairness and inclusivity.
SPEAR NEWS reports that
Bashir Ahmed, a former aide to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday added his voice to the growing criticism of the Nigeria Customs Service’s recent recruitment drive, calling the allocation of slots “glaringly imbalanced” and urging the government to ensure fairness.
Ahmed, in a social media post, presented data that he argued revealed a stark disparity between geographic regions.
According to the figures he cited, Lagos State received 207 recruitment slots, which is more than all the states in the northwest region combined. Other southwestern states also received significant numbers: Ogun got 145, Ondo 132, Osun 127, Oyo 108, and Ekiti 93.
In stark contrast, the northwest region, the country’s most populous zone, was allocated a meagre share. Kano, Nigeria’s most populous state, was given only 31 slots. Neighbouring Katsina received 20, Jigawa 18, and Zamfara 16. Cumulatively, the entire northwest region accounted for barely 7% of the total recruits.
“We sincerely urge the authorities to kindly look into this matter promptly,” Mr Ahmed wrote, “so that everyone can have fair and equitable representation in the exercise.”
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