Senate to stop outsiders as comptroller-general of Nigerian Customs
- The Senate and some officials of the Nigerian Customs are not happy with the appointment of Ali, a retired Army officer as head of the agency
- As a result, there are plans by the Senate to review the act creating the Nigerian Customs Service and reduce the powers of the president in the area of appointment
The Senate plans to whittle the power of the president to appoint the comptroller-general of the Nigerian Customs Service by ensuring that only officers who have grown through the ranks are picked for the top office.
With this, the president would no longer have any right to appoint an outsider to head the revenue-generating agency.
The current comptroller-general of the agency, Hammed Ibrahim Ali, is a retired Army colonel and his appointment had not gone well with the rank and file of the customs service according to reports.
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Daily Trust reports that the Senate has now commenced the process of amending the act setting up the Nigerian Customs Service with a view to stopping outsiders from taking critical positions.
The revelation was made by the chairman of the Senate committee on customs, excise and tariff, Hope Uzodinma during a meeting with five former comptroller-generals of customs on the amendment of NCS Act.
Uzodinma, member of the Peoples Democratic Party from Imo state, said a customs commission will be established to replace the board of the NCS and would be headed by a retired customs CG.
He said: “The commission would monitor the NCS activities and replace the board of the NCS. The appointment of an outsider to head the NCS has derailed the country’s revenue generation.”
Uzodinma argued that with proper monitoring, the revenue generated by customs would increase.
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The five former CGs present at the meeting included Bello Haliru, Jacob Gyang Buba (Gbong Gwon Jos), Nwadialo Benard-Shaw, A Mustapha and A Kajoli.
Haliru said: “The present boss of the NCS should be called Sole Administrator and not Comptroller-General. Critical changes needed to be done on the service to strengthen it.”
Source: Legit.ng
