The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has said that it will go to court to stop the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd.) from wearing the customs uniform if eventually he heeds the senate call for him to appear in their chamber tomorrow on customs uniform.
It will be recalled that for two weeks running now, the Nigerian Senate and the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd.) had been on the news over appearance before the chamber on customs uniform by the later.
But in a statement issued in Lagos by NAGAFF, the association argued that Ali was correct for not wearing the Customs uniform and that President Muhammadu Buhari was right for not appointing him as a Sole Administrator in a democratic government.
“As an association which believes in the sanctity of the law, especially court ruling, if Ali wears the Customs uniform, NAGAFF may approach the court to stop him from an act of unlawful assumption of character of an officer of the Service. Our locus shall be drawn from Section 154 of CEMA Cap C45 of 2004 as amended. The real issue before the stakeholders is to examine and determine whether Ali is doing his job as directed by Mr. President to reform, restructure and enhance revenue collection duty of the service. We shall do the appraisal when Ali visits NAGAFF Headquarters and ANLCA on the 27th of March 2017”, the statement reads in part.
The association maintained that the ongoing controversy involving the Comptroller-General of Customs, Rtd. Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali and the Nigerian Senate was avoidable as the Presidential mandate was specific and unambiguous adding that the CGC was directed to reform, restructure and enhance revenue collection duty of the service.
It observed that the time frame was within four years of the administration’s tenure or less under the circumstance because Ali was neither a commissioned Customs officer nor a Sole Administrator in a democratic government arguing that he was not in a position to assume the character of an officer of the service as stated under Section 10 of CEMA Cap C 45 of 2004 as amended.
“The character of a proper Customs Officer shall include but not limited to uniform, service number, rank, identity card and of course, a formal training to initiate an officer into revenue and enforcement duties. The rank of a Comptroller General of Custom as stated in the legal notices as a supplementary legislation is a crown which can be worn by a commissioned officer of the Service. Having the character of a Customs Officer though mentioned in Section 10 of CEMA, we believe that it is only a necessary condition to perform as a Customs officer. It is not a sufficient condition to so do. The officer must have a condition that is both necessary and sufficient to ensure compellability. The reality of Hameed Ali’s appointment as the CG of Customs should not be lost on anyone. To be a proper officer of the Nigeria Customs you must be properly appointed in line with the Civil Service Rules.
“You must undergo a mandatory training programme and issued with a Service number. These are conditions that must exist before the question of character can be alluded to. Since we know that Ali’s appointment is a political appointment that was made by Mr. President in line with Section 171 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, for him to go and carry-out a specific mandate of restructuring, reforming and enhance the revenue collection of the Nigeria Customs Service. To us he was only sent to the Nigeria Customs Service for a SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT. He is by this appointment not a career Customs officer that should be made to wear the uniform”, NAGAFF said in the statement.
The statement continued,” Viewed from a wider perspective, the Nigeria Customs Service and CGC Ali Hameed Ibrahim may not have contravened any known law in Nigeria in relation to proper management and administration of Customs laws establishing it. What is clear to NAGAFF at the moment is that the CG has allowed himself to be shielded from the core stakeholders for too long like NAGAFF, ANLCA and resident media who are in a better position to assist him in achieving his mandate to the glory of our country. It is the hope of NAGAFF that by the time he visits NAGAFF and ANLCA, things shall change for better in carrying out his mandate because at the moment, the Customs ports and border operations in relation to cargo clearance are witnessing system collapse. The degree of non-compliance to import and export regulations occasioned by high level of corruption among the agents of the Government and stakeholders is worrisome. In the opinion of NAGAFF, laws are made to be obeyed and those who refuse to obey and respect the laws of our land should be sanctioned in accordance with the law”.
NAGAFF therefore appealled to the Senate and the Executive to always close ranks on issues of this nature which could ordinarily be discussed behind closed doors as most Nigerians were looking forward to the dividends of change as promised, rather than this kind of avoidable distractions.
“It is our view that CGC Hameed Ibrahim Ali should be able to recommend to Mr. President a fit and proper Customs officer to lead the Customs after his mandate of restructuring and reforming the Service for efficiency and productivity. It is the expectation of freight practitioners that the ongoing repeal of the Customs law before the National Assembly shall address grey areas of the obsolete Customs laws of 1958. We shall in due course make further statement in this regard”, it stated.
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