Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise, Leke Abejide, has dismissed as misinformation on Public Service Rules the claims that the purported appointment of Deputy Controller I.D Olorunfemi as the next Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) would lead to the forced retirement of senior officers.

President Bola Tinubu approved a final six-month tenure extension for the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, over the weekend, allowing him to remain in office until February 2027.

In a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu said he approved an additional six months to enable Adeniyi complete key reforms within the service, “consolidate the implementation of the National Single Window and ensure an orderly succession in the service.”

However, Abejide, who was reacting to a publication on the issue, insisted that the report was based on misinformation allegedly circulated by a junior officer in the service, adding that all retirements within the service are strictly governed by extant Public Service Rules.

According to the lawmaker, the Public Service Rules clearly stipulate retirement after 35 years in service or attainment of 60 years of age, and under such circumstances, it is neither discretionary nor targeted at any individual.

According to him, “suggestions that any officer would be retired to create room for another appointment are false and misleading.”

Abejide further explained that the NCS is currently dealing with a unique personnel structure resulting from a 16-year recruitment gap. He noted that the absence of recruitment during that period created a significant generational vacuum within the service, leaving a large number of officers in the 41000, 42000, and 43000 service number categories in the same rank bracket and seniority level retiring at the same time.

“This has created a situation where the upper cadre of the service is heavily populated, while the lower levels remain comparatively thin,” he explained. “By September, 95 per cent of these officers would have exited the service in line with statutory retirement provisions.”

The lawmaker also denied allegations of any familial or personal relationship with the incoming customs chief, describing the claims as entirely unfounded and adding that he only learned of him this year.

Moreover, he said there was no forced retirement of officers, and no senior officer was bypassed in Olorunfemi’s purported appointment, which is pending the six-month transitional tenure of the incumbent CGC, Adewale Adeniyi.