The Nigeria Customs Service is set to lose 1,516 officers nationwide over the next two years following the release of statutory retirement lists covering 825 officers in 2026 and 691 in 2027. The retirement notices, contained in circulars issued by the Service’s Human Resources and Development Department, affect officers across all ranks, from Deputy Comptroller-General to Customs Assistant II, in line with statutory retirement provisions.
Among senior officers affected are all the serving Deputy Comptrollers-General and Assistant Comptrollers-General as well as many Comptrollers whose retirements either took effect earlier this year or are scheduled before the end of 2026. The 2026 retirement list, contained in Circular No.
HRD/2025/048 dated September 19, 2025, shows that the Deputy Superintendent of Customs cadre will record the highest number of exits with 285 officers, followed by the Superintendent of Customs cadre with 226 officers. A separate circular, No. HRD/2026/020 dated May 26, 2026, identified 691 officers due for retirement in 2027.
The Superintendent of Customs cadre accounts for the largest share with 200 officers, followed by the Deputy Superintendent of Customs cadre with 193. In both circulars, affected officers were directed to proceed on mandatory pre-retirement leave in line with Public Service regulations and submit three-month retirement notices to the Comptroller-General of Customs.
The Service stated that all officers due for retirement must disengage from active service and commence pre-retirement leave three months before their effective retirement dates. It also invited complaints or corrections regarding the 2027 retirement list to be submitted to the office of the Deputy Comptroller-General (HRD) by July 31, 2026.
The mass retirement exercise comes days after President Bola Tinubu approved a final six-month tenure extension for Comptroller-General of Customs Adewale Adeniyi, allowing him to remain in office until February 2027. Announcing the extension, presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said the additional tenure would enable Adeniyi to consolidate key reforms, including the implementation of the National Single Window project, while ensuring an orderly succession process within the Service.
Onanuga said Adeniyi would work with the Nigeria Customs Service Board during the transition period to oversee critical personnel matters, including the promotion of eligible officers and the compulsory retirement of officers who have reached the age of 60 or completed 35 years in service.
Adeniyi, who joined the Nigeria Customs Service in the late 1980s after graduating from Obafemi Awolowo University, rose through the ranks before being appointed Comptroller-General by President Tinubu in June 2023. His extended stay is expected to provide continuity for ongoing reforms as the Service prepares for one of the largest waves of retirements in recent years.