By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
No fewer than 1,911,141 Nigerians have applied for the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board recruitment exercise as of when the application portal closed on Monday, August 11.
The 2025 CDCFIB recruitment was marred by technical glitches, which led to repeated portal crashes and temporary suspensions.
The recruitment exercise, which was originally scheduled to begin on June 26, was rescheduled to July 14 and later postponed to July 21.
Consequently, the application window expected to close on August 4, 2025, was extended by one week to Monday, August 11.
Despite the hiccups, figures on the CDCFIB website show 1,911,141 Nigerians applied before the application closed on Monday.
According to figures on the board’s official website, Kogi (116,162), Kaduna (114,536), and Benue (110,565) recorded the highest numbers, while Bayelsa (11,669) and Lagos (14,216) recorded the fewest applicants.
The five states with the largest applicant pools include Kogi, Kaduna, Benue, Kano, and Niger, contributing 510,174 applicants.
At the lower end, Bayelsa (11,669), Lagos (14,216), Rivers (22,210), Ebonyi (23,601), and Delta (27,962) together accounted for 99,658 applicants.
Meanwhile, CDCFIB has provided instructions on the next steps in the recruitment process for candidates who applied for the paramilitary 2025 recruitment exercise following the close of online applications.
In a series of posts on its official X account on Monday, the board thanked applicants and announced that shortlisted candidates will be contacted shortly with instructions on the next steps in the recruitment process.
The board urged applicants to regularly monitor their email and text messages and to check CDCFIB’s portal and social media accounts for updates in the coming weeks.
“Recruitment Applications Closed! The official recruitment portal for the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board is now closed. We thank all applicants for their interest and commitment to serving with honour, integrity, and national pride.
“Next Step! Shortlisted candidates will be contacted shortly with further instructions. Please monitor your email and text messages over the coming weeks for notifications. We also encourage you to regularly check the portal and social media handles for important updates,” the post read.