The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) issues stern warning against its officers who are in the habit of violating Section 120 of the Public Service Rule (PSR) which mandates civil servants to proceed on three months leave prior to their retirement date
By Innocent Chukwu
The management of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has condemned the abuse of a section of Nigeria’s Public Service Rule (PSR) by its officers and men who are in the habit of spending their compulsory retirement leave in the office. The NCS warned that the provisions of the Section 120 (43) of the PSR have no discretionary attachment, and therefore, must not be abused by any operatives of the tax-collecting Federal Government agency.
The PSR which is updated every five years is an Act that guides and regulates the recruitment, appointment, conduct and discharge of civil servants. It stipulates a three-month mandatory pre-retirement leave for all civil servants in the country. In the past decade, policies of the Nigeria Customs management have led to the abuse of the compulsory pre-retirement leave by officers.
The Col. Hameed Ali (retd)-led management which was appointed in 2015 and lasted for eight years, allegedly violated the compulsory pre-retirement leave within the NCS when he allegedly favoured some officers and allowed them serve the three months in office. The practice was inherited by the incumbent management being led by Bashir Adewale Adeniyi as the Comptroller General (CGC). The current management did grant the favour to a few officers who were retiring and they served the three months in their respective offices albeit with an official letter from the CGC. The continuation of the policy fueled backlash which compelled the Adeniyi-led management to put it to a halt.
However, some unscrupulous officers have allegedly taken it upon themselves to serve the compulsory three months pre-retirement leave in the office even without any official letter from the CGC. The abuse of this sacrosanct provision of the PSR by Customs officers has aroused the ire of Customs management which recently sounded a warning to all officers to desist from the abnormal practice. Legal experts insist that there is no proviso in the PSR that makes the mandatory retirement leave discretionary. They argued that it is a breach of the law for individuals to seek letters from their parastatal heads to enable them spend the leave in office.
Reacting to the abuse of the law recently, the management of Customs under Adeniyi issued a circular to the effect that the enforcement of the three months retirement leave at all levels of the Service must be intensified.
In a circular dated Tuesday, April 21, 2025, the NCS management frowned at what it regarded as the flagrant disregard for the established regulation. The circular signed by the Deputy Comptroller General (DCG) in charge of Finance, Administration and Technical Services (FATS), KI Adeola on behalf of the CGC, insisted that the regulation required that all officers and men of Customs must proceed on the compulsory three months pre-retirement leave without excuse.
Entitled, “Adherence to Pre-retirement Leave Notification”, part of the strong worded circular read, “It has come to the attention of management that there has been a complete non-adherence to the provisions outlined in Section 120-43 of the Public Service Rule (PSR) regarding three (3) months pre-retirement notice. This flagrant disregard for established regulation is no longer acceptable.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Public Service Rule (PSR) requires that all officers proceed on three months pre-retirement leave prior to their official date of retirement.
“This provision is not discretionary. It applies to all officers and men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), regardless of rank, station or assignment”.
The NCS management, however, noted that the only exception recognized under the framework was where a specific written approval was granted to an officer by the CGC to remain in service beyond the commencement of their pre-retirement leave.
The NCS management also directed officers of Customs Intelligence Unit (CIU) and those of the Customs Police to collaborate in the enforcement of the content of the circular, as it further directed strict compliance by all and sundry.
All Zonal headquarters, Area Commands, Departments and Units within the Service have been asked to keep accurate records of officers approaching retirement date, and initiate pre-retirement leave process in timely manner without awaiting reminder from the management.
The issues associated with the specific written approval from the CGC which allegedly emboldened officers to violate the PSR provision include; the criteria for allowing some officers remain in office to observe the leave while others are asked to proceed on the leave. Another issue is whether there is a proviso in the PSR for the violation of the compulsory pre-retirement leave by Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
Yet many also ask what critical service those favoured with a written approval can render within the three months, which other serving operatives cannot handle. These analysts wonder why the favouritism would exist if there’s no alleged corruption undertone attached to it.
