Gives Ali new date to appear in service uniform

 I’m still consulting with my legal adviser, he says

From Fred Itua,  Abuja

No respite came the way of Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Colonel Hammed Ali, in the face-off with the Senate, as senators yesterday walked him out for not wearing his service uniforms.

The Customs boss had failed to honour previous invitations from the Senate on Wednesday, until senators adopted a resolution compelling him to appear yesterday or risk arrest over the planned implementation of vehicle verification exercise, which would make owners of old vehicles to pay duty.

When Ali appeared yesterday, he was left waiting in the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, for about two and half hours. At about 12.05pm, Ali was ushered into the chamber by Enang, following a motion moved by the Senate Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan.

Deputy Senate President,  Ike Ekweremadu, who presided, reminded Ali why he was invited. He went ahead to ask him why he did not wear his appropriate service uniform, in line with the directive of the Senate.

The Customs boss acknowledged receipt of the first invitation, which required him to appear in Customs uniform, but claimed that the second summons was silent on whether or not he should appear in uniform.

Ekweremadu informed him that the second invitation was a reminder that he must appear before the Senate.

The Customs CG said on the issue of whether to wear uniform or not, he was seeking legal opinion and pleaded with the Senate to also seek legal advice on the matter.

Ekweremadu, thereafter, threw the matter to the floor for comments.

Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Bala Na’Allah, who was the first to speak, reminded the Customs boss that he raised the motion over the policy on retrospective payment of duty on old vehicles.

He said: “I crave your indulgence to try and put a recital with what I can best refer to as unnecessary controversy. You will recall that I raised a motion on the floor of the Senate based on a circular issued or allegedly issued by the Comptroller General.

“You issued a circular in which we  have a lot of calls from our constituents, entertaining anxiety as to what will happen to them and what we  wanted clearly was in terms and in keeping with the terms and tradition of our democratic governance.  We require that you come before the committee of the Senate to say this is how the circular is and this is how we intend to implement it. This would have given us the opportunity to allay the fears of our constituents.

“Unfortunately, it was alleged that in reaction to that resolution, you allegedly made certain comments that appeared to be derogatory to the institution of the Senate by saying the Senate has no business whether you wear  uniform or not.

“Now, the Senate is not privileged to see your letter of appointment, but what is  important is that you issued that  circular in your capacity as the Comptroller General and at all material time, you have answered and acted in the office of the CG.

“Today, you are in this chamber because the Senate summoned the Comptroller General of Customs and let me refer you to section 7 of the Customs and Excise Act. If you look at section 7, subsection 2 in particular and with your permission I read: ‘Any proceeding for an offence under this law will be taken in the name of Comptroller General.’ The intendment of this is that it has given you legal power in your capacity as Comptroller General.

“Then section 8 of the same law says: ‘For the purpose of  carrying out or enforcing the provisions of the Customs and Excise law, all officers shall have the same powers, authorities, privileges as given by law to police officers…’ I want you to read the recital.

“Then it came under section 10 and it says, ‘unlawful assumptions and character of an officer;’ don’t forget it is referring to Comptroller General of Customs to which, at all material time, you have answered. It says, ‘if for the purpose of telling admission to any building or either place or any ship or aircraft or vehicle or of procuring to be done of his own authority or for any other unlawful purpose, any person not being an officer assumes the name, designation or character of an officer he fails in addition to any other punishment to which he may have rendered himself liable be liable to a fine of N1000.’

“Let me tell you the combined effect of this. The power to prosecute is entirely that of the executive, and, in this democracy, it belongs to the President. But the constitution, which we have made and enacted and given to us, says the Attorney General of the Federation has that power but went ahead to say certain officers, which include Comptroller General, has that power and it is statutory power. It means your appointment is statutory.”

Senator Solomon Adeola elaborated more on the issue. He said: “To start with, this Senate, the highest lawmaking body of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, issued a resolution and the  content of the resolution is crystal clear and which states that the Comptroller General of Customs appears before it in uniform. The resolution still stands and what is happening here today is contrary to the resolution passed by the 109 senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“I believe it is only right and proper for the CG of customs to comply with that resolution and, as you can see here this afternoon, every other person that has followed the CG of Customs into this chamber is fully dressed in their attire as member of the NCS and I want to say this; anybody can dress in mufti and call himself CG.

“The Comptroller General is a rank and if the rank is not here, I don’t know who is before us, and yes they have identified the CG, but the fact still remains that the CG still needs to appear before us in full Comptroller General of Customs uniform. His car carry insignia of the rank of Comptroller General. The official aircraft of the Customs carry an insignia of the NCS and I believe we should just stick by the resolution of the Senate and asks the CG to comply with that resolution.”

Senator Jibrin Barau, in his contribution, noted that having heard what Na’Allah said, the Customs boss should go back and comply before he would be allowed to address the Senate

Senator Magnus Abe reminded Ali that, as the image maker of the NCS,  he should work to build the image of the Service he superintends.

Abe added that even if there was no law that compels the CG to wear the uniform, he should wear the attire for the sake of the NCS and the senate. The position of Abe did not go down well with some of his colleagues, but the Rivers South-East lawmaker persisted on the grounds that he had the right to speak his mind.

Abe noted that rather than consult his lawyers, Ali should seek advice from his public relations managers and insisted the Customs’ boss should work to build goodwill for the establishment. He described the unfolding controversy as completely unnecessary and uncalled for. “In the interest of the NCS  and Nigeria, the CG should go back and do the needful,” Abe said.

Senator Thompson Sekibo, also from Rivers State, said the business of governance should always be based on the rule of law. He moved that Ali be given another date, Wednesday next week, to comply with the senate’s resolution by wearing appropriate uniform before he could be allowed to address the lawmakers.

Senator Barnabas Gemade seconded the motion.

Before Ekweremadu put the question, he said: “Distinguished colleagues, we have heard everybody and the CG. I’m going to put the question, but let me just do a further explanation to the CG of Customs. Mr. CG, if you look at Section 2 of the Customs Act, it defines the officer and that definition is so comprehensive to include the Comptroller-General of Customs.

“I believe there are certain things the officers take for granted, which includes wearing uniforms. So, if that is what they should take for granted, I believe, as the number one Customs officer, you should lead by example. Because if you create the impression that you should not wear uniform, then every other officer can also say there is no law telling them to wear uniform.

“As leaders, we must lead by example; and example is the best teacher. So, I think we need to encourage those we supervise to obey the law, by, ourselves, obeying the law. Let me also further explain that why we still need to meet with you, regarding the policy, is that you simply suspended it. The suspension means  it can still come into force. We will like to have a conversation with you on the propriety or otherwise of that policy.  So, you have an opportunity to explain to Nigerians, through their elected representatives, the propriety or otherwise of that. And, then, you will hear a feedback of Nigerians, also through their representatives. If Nigerians say, we don’t like this, of course, we are not going to force any policy on them. I think that’s why it is necessary that even after the suspension, we still need to have that conversation with you. We must ensure that we lead by example. Senate, as you can see, is of the view that you need to come back in the proper uniform.”

The adoption of the motion that the Customs CG should go back and appear next Wednesday in proper uniform was unanimously carried. The Customs CG left the Senate chamber at about 12.40pm.

•Reps probe N1trn loss of revenue

In a related development, the House of Representatives, yesterday, mandated its committee on Customs and Excise to investigate the Nigerian Customs Service policy on banning the auction of seized goods, which has led to a loss of revenue estimated at one N1 trillion.  The resolution of the House was sequel to the adoption of a motion entitled: “Urgent need to investigate the failure of the Nigerian Customs Service to auction confiscated goods,” sponsored by Prestige Ossy.

The lawmaker, while presenting the motion, explained that in 2015, the Nigerian Customs banned the auction sale of goods seized by the Service and legally forfeited to the Federal Government.

Ossy said the seized goods include vehicles, trucks, containers of assorted household goods, clothing materials and consumables, among others. He said a large number of the goods had been gazetted and forfeited to the federal government on the orders of various courts in the country.

The House also yesterday passed for second reading a bill for an act to repeal the Customs Service Board Act and re-enact the Nigerian Customs Commission Act.

The bill sponsored by Jerry Alagbaoso also seeks to give the NCS more financial, administrative and operational latitude as the second largest revenue generating agency in the country.

Alagbaoso argued that a situation in which the Minister of Finance is the Chairman of the Board of Customs does not give room for the effective monitoring of the affairs of the Agency.

“Hence, the need to reduce the burden on the minister by providing, through this bill, a robust management structure, through a Customs Service Commission, which would ensure discipline and promote accountability in line with both Customs and Excise Management Act and the change mantra of the present federal government,” he said.