The debate on customs succession and the danger of disruptive ambitions

The recent six-month extension granted to the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adewale Adeniyi, has helped protect the service from potential institutional disruptions and preserve the stability that has characterized his ongoing reform agenda.

Last week, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved a six-month extension of Adeniyi’s term. According to the Presidency, the extension is intended to enable the Head of Customs to consolidate the implementation of the National One Stop Shop (NSW) project, while ensuring an orderly succession process within the Service.

The extension will also allow Adeniyi, working alongside the NCS Board of Directors, to oversee the promotion of meritorious officers and the retirement of personnel who have reached the mandatory retirement age of 60 years or have completed the 35 years of service required by law.

However, there is some evidence to suggest that the decision may also have been influenced by concerns about alleged attempts by certain interests to influence the succession process within the Service.

Reports indicate that the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise, Rt Hon Leke Joseph Abejide, together with retired Deputy Comptrollers General Hussein Ejibunu and Olugboyega Peters, allegedly sought to influence the leadership transition in a manner that could effectively turn the service into a personal fiefdom and appendage of the legislature.

The alleged plan was to arrange for the retirement of senior officers in the ranks of Comptroller, Assistant Comptroller-General (ACG) and Deputy Comptroller-General (DCG), thus paving the way for the appointment of a serving Deputy Comptroller, ID Olorunfemi, as Comptroller-General.

If such a plan had materialised, the deputy comptroller in question would have been elevated directly to the top position of comptroller general, while the retired DCGs would have returned as special advisors on enforcement and revenue respectively.

Beyond the institutional implications, such an agreement would likely have created legal complications. The Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023 stipulates that only officers of the rank of Assistant Comptroller General can be appointed as Comptroller General. Any departure from this provision would constitute a clear violation of the law.

More importantly, the reported attempt to seat DC Olorunfemi for the office could have set the Service back decades. It would have necessitated the premature exit of experienced and qualified officials, sacrificed on the altar of individual ambition rather than institutional interest.

It is in this context that the explanation advanced by the Hon. Abejide, that the move was intended to bridge a 16-year generation gap within the Service, does not seem convincing.

In a video statement and subsequent clarifications, Abejide denied the lobbying allegations and instead framed the issue as one of institutional reform.

According to him, the Customs Service is currently facing a 16-year generation gap due to hiring freezes and imbalances in promotions. It argued that serving controllers with service numbers between 41,000 and 43,000 belong to the same cohort and are due for statutory retirement by September 2026.

“The current deputy controllers of the 2009 batch are the officers who will take over from the current controller general. Without anyone being compulsorily retired because they have reached 60 years or 35 years of service, there is nothing unusual about this,” he said.

Abejide further maintained that the retirement of senior officers will be done strictly in accordance with existing public service rules.

“It’s not by compulsion; it’s by law. The rules of the public service are very clear. Anyone who says officers will be retired because someone is appointed is not telling the truth,” he said.

He argues that currently the customs service hierarchy suffers from a concentration of officials within the same generation.

“The real situation is that Customs is being questioned. There is a 16-year gap between those who are currently full controllers with service numbers 41,000, 42,000 and 43,000. This means that they all belong to the same group and entered service at the same time.

“They all leave at the same time. The customs pyramid is very wide at the top and very narrow at the bottom. That’s the challenge,” he explained.

According to him, the impending retirement of a significant number of senior officials requires a carefully managed transition plan.

“By September, most of these officers will no longer remain in service because they would have retired by law,” he said.

While these concerns are worth considering, the proposed remedy raises more questions than answers. Institutional reforms should strengthen systems, not undermine established procedures or diminish morale among the ranks.

Stakeholders have consistently argued that forcing experienced senior officers to create space for a preferred candidate would damage morale, weaken institutional memory and potentially reverse many of the reforms initiated by Comptroller General Adeniyi.

Ultimately, strong institutions are built not by bending the rules in favor of individuals, but by ensuring that established processes are respected, that succession is orderly, and that reforms are supported.

Furthermore, retirements within the Customs Service occur in phases. Available data indicates that only four assistant comptrollers general are expected to retire in 2027, the year Adeniyi’s latest tenure extension is expected to expire. This suggests that sufficient time remains for a structured and legitimate succession process.

Succession planning in a strategic institution like the Nigeria Customs Service must be guided by merit, due process and provisions of law, rather than personal interests or political considerations.

Hon Leke Abejide should focus on his constitutional legislative and oversight responsibilities regarding the Service rather than getting involved in succession politics. Any attempts to influence leadership transitions outside of established processes should be discouraged in the interest of institutional integrity.

The Presidency must therefore remain vigilant to ensure that the integrity of the Service is preserved. Any attempt to manipulate the succession process for personal profit should be resisted in the broader interests of institutional stability, professionalism and national economic security.

Okechukwu Nweze, a clearing agent, writes from Apapa, Lagos.