The leadership crisis rocking the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intensified, with fresh allegations that the Comptroller-General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, is using a controversial early retirement directive to consolidate power ahead of the end of his tenure.
At the heart of the dispute is a recent circular directing officers due for retirement to vacate office before their official disengagement dates—effectively scrapping the long-standing three-month pre-retirement period (PRD) traditionally granted to senior personnel.
The move has triggered outrage within the service, particularly as Adeniyi himself—and several others —previously benefited from both service extensions and the same pre-retirement privilege now being denied to others.
Critics argue that the timing and execution of the directive point to a deeper agenda.
Those who have allegedly enjoyed the privilege that others are being denied include:
* 41321 CC FM Ojeifo
* 38417 DCG IG Umar
* 38480 DCG B Imam
* 38991 ACG KC Egwuh
* 38127 CC MT Awe
* 38245 CC AA Abdulkadir
Many of the officers asked to exit the system had expected to proceed on their PRD in line with established norms but are now being compelled to exit abruptly.
Reacting to the development, the Good Governance Advocates (GGA), in a statement on Friday by its convener, Ajibade Ojomo, raised alarm over what it described as a dangerous mix of inconsistency, institutional disruption, and personal ambition.
The group warned that the policy comes at a particularly critical time when the Customs Service is already grappling with a leadership gap in terms of mentorship and experience transfer.
According to GGA, a significant number of mid-level officers—particularly Deputy Comptrollers and Assistant Comptrollers recruited between 2009 and 2012—are at risk of being left without adequate guidance and institutional memory if the current crop of senior management officers exits en masse.
