Senate queries refusal of Customs CG to wear uniform

The Senate Committee on Customs and Excise, headed by Senator Hope Uzodinma, on Thursday, queried the Comptroller-General of Customs, Colonel Hameed Ali (retd), over his failure to wear the uniform of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) since assuming office in 2015.

The committee, which held an interactive session with the management of Customs, Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the impending amendment to the Customs Act, said Ali should be wearing the uniform.

Though Ali insisted that he could not wear the uniform of his office because of Army tradition which he said forbids him from wearing another uniform having served in the Army, former Comptrollers-General who also appeared before the committee insisted that Ali should wear the Customs uniform.

They also said that Ali should have been appointed as Sole Administrator being a retired army officer.

A member of the Senate Committee, Senator Obinna Ogba, was the first to challenge Ali, declaring that it was wrong for the Comptroller-General to appear in public in mufti.

According to the senator, the act was demoralising to younger officers and men of the revenue generating agency.

Ogba said: “Mr CG, we want this committee to know the reason you are still in mufti close to two years after your appointment as the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service.”

Ali, however, replied that being a former military officer, the tradition in the Army forbids him from wearing the uniform of any other agency.

Senator Dino Melaye immediately took Ali up, saying that his assertion was wrong.

Melaye said that a retired General of the Nigerian Army who served as Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Major-General Halidu Hananiya, wore FRSC uniform.

Again, Ali replied that Hananiya committed an error by wearing the uniform of the FRSC.

His reply angered Senator Ogba, who left the venue and said as he walked away “this is how you people keep deceiving Nigerians on wrong action and still defend it.”

The Senate also tackled Ali over the non-composition of the Customs Board which was dissolved in 2015.

Senator Uzodinma also said it was wrong for the Customs boss to singlehandedly run the agency, promoting and firing officers without a board in place.

The Senate Committee, therefore, ordered an immediate composition of the board.

The committee chairman said: “You claim that the Minister of Finance is the one delaying the composition of the board, this committee has written letter straight away to the minister, Secretary to the Government and the Attorney-General of the Federation to put the board in place without any further delay.”

As the session was closing, the committee chairman told Ali jokingly: “We are releasing you to go and sew your uniform while we continue with official of the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).”

While meeting with former Comptroller-Generals of Customs, led by Mohammed Bello, who headed the agency under former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, they backed the position of the Senate on Ali’s refusal to wear uniform.

According to Bello, the incumbent Comptroller-General should have been named a sole administrator since he was not ready to be in Customs uniform.