By Rabiu Musa, Abuja
Sequel to the commencement of 2024 promotion examination for officers and men of the Nigeria Customs Service(NCS), the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, has reaffirmed the Service’s commitment to maintaining its transparency and justice in promoting deserving candidates.
The Customs boss disclosed this information on Monday, 19 August 2024, when he paid an inspection visit to one of the examination venues at SASCON in Maitama District, Abuja, to assess the level of preparedness and conduct of the exercise.
His words: “We are committed to applying the same rigorous standards as in the previous promotion exercise, which was widely recognised for its fairness. Our goal and standard remain to ensure that every deserving candidate is promoted on merit.”
The CGC asserted, “So in terms of transparency, we are ready to put in enough effort to ensure tight security in the venues and essentials the arrangements. We’ve done enough to ensure that we build a lot of integrity into the process, thus, we want them to believe in the outcome of promotion exams.”
However, the Comptroller-General of Customs also emphasised the security measures put in place to maintain the examination’s integrity,, invigilation and other safeguarding measures had been strengthened to prevent any form of malpractices.
Highlighting the competitive nature of the process, CGC Adeniyi acknowledged that the limited vacancies for Deputy Comptroller and Comptroller positions would make this cycle particularly challenging, adding, “We are determined to identify and promote the most qualified officers.”
Meanwhile, to ensure inclusivity, CGC Adeniyi confirmed that technological provisions had been made for officers currently posted abroad, allowing them to participate in the examination simultaneously with their counterparts in Nigeria.
He reiterated, “We have a few candidates who are not in the country, and we have made significant efforts to apply some technological approach to engage them in the examination process at the same time with their colleagues in Nigeria, through the assistance of the National Intelligence Agency.”
His words: “This promotion exercise is not only statutory but crucial to maintaining the high standards of our Service. Every eligible officer will be promoted based on their performance. Whoever is deemed to have done well can rest assured that their promotion will fairly be granted as it will be based on merit.”
