THE Kano State House of Assembly has rejected the ongoing recruitment exercise by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), accusing the agency of skewing job placements overwhelmingly in favour of southern states, particularly Lagos and Ogun while marginalising the North.
News Point Nigeria reports that raising the alarm during Wednesday’s plenary, the Majority Leader, Hon. Lawan Hussaini Dala, described the allocation of recruitment slots as a “gross injustice” and a violation of the Federal Character principle enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.
Dala said the recruitment numbers were alarming and clearly undermined equitable representation in federal employment.
“To us, there is injustice. The Federal Character that was saddled with the responsibility of ensuring equitable sharing of rights wasn’t considered,” he declared.
The lawmaker disclosed that 1,785 candidates were recruited nationwide, but the distribution heavily favoured the South-West geopolitical zone.
According to figures presented:
Lagos — 207
Ogun — 145
Ondo — 132
Osun — 127
Oyo — 108
Ekiti — 93
Total for South-West: 812 slots representing over 45% of the national recruitment figure.
In sharp contrast, he said the North-West zone, despite being the most populous region in the country, received barely 7%.
Kano — 31
Katsina — 20
Jigawa — 18
Zamfara — 16
Across the entire Northern region, North-West, North-East and North-Central — only 651 recruits were selected, less than those from the South-West alone.
Dala warned that such lopsidedness, if left unchallenged, could lead to a regional monopoly of the Customs Service in the future.
“If this continues, the Nigeria Customs Service in a few years to come will belong to a particular ethnicity or region,” he cautioned.
The Majority Leader urged the House to send a formal protest to the National Assembly, the Federal Character Commission (FCC), and the Customs leadership to demand an immediate review of the selection process.
He further expressed concern that continued disregard for equity in federal employment threatens national cohesion and deepens mistrust among citizens.
“Our people will continue to be cheated if we remain silent,” he said.
Other lawmakers who contributed agreed that the recruitment imbalance must be challenged and called on northern federal legislators to intervene urgently.
Speaker of the House praised Dala for “standing for fairness” and mandated the relevant committee to investigate the recruitment statistics and report back for legislative action.
As of press time, the Nigeria Customs Service and the Federal Character Commission had not responded to the allegations.