Apart from the rejection of Ibrahim Magu as the substantive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by the Senate last Wednesday, one major issue that grabbed the headlines in the past week was the drama involving Hameed Ali, Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and the Senate over the former’s blatant refusal to wear Customs uniform.
Since Ali’s appointment as the Customs helmsman in August 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari, he has continued to draw the ire of not a few Nigerians, particularly federal lawmakers, who had at different times and forums expressed dissatisfaction with the Customs czar’s policies and the manner in which he was going about his official functions without appearing in the agency’s designated uniform.
Only two months ago, Ifeanyichukwu Okonkwo, an Onitsha, Anambra State-based importer of goods and services, had asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to void the appointment of Hameed Ali, a retired Army Colonel, as Comptroller General of Customs, arguing that the appointment violated sections 5, 147, 148, 151 and 171 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
He had argued that President Buhari, by appointing Ali, who was above 60 years old at the time, instead of a senior officer from the NCS, abused his constitutional powers, concluding that Ali lacked the training and technical know-how on the statutory functions of the Customs.
According to him, the “unlawful” appointment by the President had destroyed the career of many high-ranking, well-trained Customs officers and that the action had posed a great danger to professionalism in the Customs Service.
That matter and others like it were yet to be put to bed when the NCS recently announced it would soon start collecting duties from owners of old vehicles on Nigerian roads. Amid the public outcry and wide condemnation this attracted, Customs later issued a statement giving all vehicle owners in the country whose Customs duty had not been paid to do so before April 12.
This did not go down well with the federal lawmakers as the Senate Committee on Customs ordered Ali to appear before it to offer clarifications on a circular that directed all owners of vehicles on Nigerian roads to report to the nearest zonal office of the NCS to ascertain whether correct duties on their vehicles were paid or risk having their vehicles impounded. Ali failed to honour the order, consequently attracting the wrath of the entire Senate.
Following the NCS’s directive, the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations of Nigeria (COSCON), made up of members from Campaign for Democracy, Human Rights, Justice and Peace Foundation, the Flagship, Peoples Liberation Initiative, Revolutionary Ambassadors, Action for Socio-Political and Economical Change, Enugu Forum of Patriots, among others, protested penultimate Wednesday in Onitsha, Anambra State, demanding the removal of Ali for attempting to inflict more pain on Nigerians.
Then began the drama. Although the Customs suspended the controversial policy on Wednesday in obedience to the Senate’s directive, the lawmakers insisted he must appear before them and in uniform.
But rather than honour the invitation, in a letter dated March 10, 2017, signed by Azarema A., Assistant Comptroller General of Customs and read by the Clerk to the Senate, Ali requested that a new date be given to enable him honour the invitation, noting that he was unable to appear on Wednesday, March 15 because the appointment clashed with the weekly management meeting of the Customs service.
Obviously offended by the excuse, the Senate then insisted that Ali must appear before it unfailingly in Customs uniform on the following day, Thursday, or a warrant of arrest would be issued against him.
On Thursday, Ali chose to honour the invitation, but not in Customs uniform, a move which further angered the senators. The senators frowned at the fact that Ali failed to appear before them on Wednesday, and even when he chose to appear on Thursday, he appeared without uniform contrary to the Senate’s order that he must wear “appropriate” uniform to brief them over the now suspended policy on duty payment.
Coming under a point of order, Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi) posited that Ali had been disregarding the Senate, especially on the issue of Customs uniform.
“We have asked this man in the committee why he is not wearing the rank of Comptroller General, and he said uniform men don’t wear uniform twice. I asked under which law, and I educated him by reminding him that he retired as a colonel and that General Hananiya retired as a general,” Melaye said.
“Hananiya was appointed as the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps and he wore promptly and daily the uniform of the commission. If that position is a rank and you are not wearing that rank, it means you are not even proud of the Nigerian Customs,” he said.
Hameed Ali, a former governor of Kaduna State, then told the senators that no law mandated him to wear uniform while discharging his duties as the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service.
Senator Ibn Na’Allah quickly opposed him, stating that such reply was derogatory, citing sections 7, 8 and 10 of the Customs Act which stated that Customs share the same privileges with police and other security institutions.
Like a primary school headmaster would usually send back home students who appear indecently in school right from the assembly ground, the Senate sent Hameed Ali out of the red chamber for not appearing in uniform as ordered.
The Senate further resolved that he should appear again on Wednesday in uniform, after the lawmakers took turns to chide the Customs boss.
Chido Onumah, coordinator, African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFCICMIL), in his reaction to the development, wondered why Hameed Ali as Comptroller General of Customs finds it difficult to wear the uniform. “The man needs to come to terms quickly with his responsibility to wear uniform. If he is not proud of the Customs, he should resign honourably. He has no business being in an institution he has no respect for. Wearing uniform is just a responsible thing for him to do, before he heats up the polity unnecessarily,” Onumah said in an interview with BDSUNDAY.
According to him, while some Nigerians are critiquing the Senate for laying too much emphasis on the matter, the senior lawmakers should also be commended for identifying and attempting to correct a wrong, saying that the pride of the NCS as an institution is very much on the line.
“When Ali was appointed CG of Customs, many Nigerians were happy because he was outsider who could bring change there. But he must also remember that there are officers in the NCS who have served for more than 25 years and had dreamt of heading the NCS in the near future before he was suddenly brought in,” Onumah said.
“So, he needs to show leadership by example by wearing the uniform his subordinates are wearing. Hameed Ali needs to humble himself by being in uniform for official functions; that will mean he fully identifies with the people he is working with. That will be a great inspiration. If he respects the Customs as an institution, there should not be any form of arrogance in him. It is a simple matter,” he said.
Hameed Ali was military administrator of Kaduna State from August 1996 to August 1998 during the military regime of late General Sani Abacha.
NATHANIEL AKHIGBE
