…As Mukaila shuns discussion around tenure extension
The immediate past Acting National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, Dr. Kayode Farinto has advised the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi to consider quitting his office with honour and pride now that he still has them than to allow himself to be disgraced out of the office while chasing shadows.
Farinto who offered this advice in an interview with newsmen in Lagos recently, was reacting to the plans by the House of Representatives Committee On Customs and Excise to amend the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023 to establish a four year tenure for the Comptroller General of Customs, which aims to ensure stability and continuity in the leadership of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS.
It will be recalled that the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee On Customs and Excise, Hon. Leke Abejide, while on an oversight visit to the Apapa Customs Command, together with members of his committee on Wednesday 9th April, 2025 hinted at the plan by his committee to amend the Act to accommodate statutory tenure for the Comptroller General of Customs.
The tenure of the CGC, Abejide said, would have been stated in the law when it was being promulgated, however, the legal adviser to the House of Representatives kicked against it then on the ground that the civil service rules takes precedence over it.
Speaking on the development, Dr. Farinto dismissed the planned amendment of the NCSA 2023 as false, adding that it was Hon. Abejide who mentioned that the House was going to amend the Act and not a resolution by the House in session.
“I am always in the National Assembly, there is nothing like that for now. I can tell you that our NCSA 2023 is still sacrosanct. There’s no amendment, no intention, even if there’s an intention, there’s no public hearing. Whatever anybody is thinking is beer parlour gist.
“I am not the Commander-In-Chief, I am just a stakeholder but I just know that he (Adeniyi) has done his best. So, if I were him, I will step aside. There’s always this situation where African leaders do not want to leave the stage when the ovation is the loudest. I am not saying that he is wearing that toga but if I were him, I will leave when the ovation is the loudest, when people are appreciating you and you have added value.”
When reminded that the CGC still have some lofty ideas and projects up his sleeves that were yet to be completed, Farinto who is also the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Wealthy Honey Investment Limited said, “You will always have a lot even in this life to achieve but when death comes, you can’t tell death that you have money that you want to go and withdraw from the bank, I have a building that I have not completed or I have a policy that I have not implemented.
“Nobody gets it all in this world. You do your best and leave the rest. And that is why in Africa, it is always offices that retire its occupant, we don’t want to take a leave. When we had ANLCA issue, why didn’t I go to court? Why did I not forment trouble and say no, I no go gree? I left because that was the decision of the people, vox Populi, vox dei. I left, I faced my business and I realized that I even have peace, I have more time for myself and I am able to face my job now than I had in ANLCA when sometimes, they will tell me that they have a meeting at the ANLCA National Secretariat and I will mount a bike if there’s traffic, the risks involved. So, a man should learn to leave when the ovation is the loudes.”
When reminded that such a gesture was extended to the present Inspector General of Police who had the Police Act amended to accommodate tenure extension for him, he said, “I don’t want to talk about the case of the IG of Police. Police role in our society is different from customs role. So, don’t mix it up.”
On his part, the immediate Sole Administrator of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, Otunba Abdulazeez Babatunde Mukaila admitted that he has heard a lot of stories going on about tenure extension for the CGC but was quick to add that people should not forget that appointment at that level was political.
According to him, it all dependent on what the Commander-In-Chief felt about the current occupant of the seat and his disposition about the man in question. “If he believes the man has advanced his administration’s agenda, I will say you don’t change a winning team. But the bulk stops on the table of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, irrespective of what we are feeling.
“My take is that President Tinubu will decide that. Appointment from DCG level is political, if the government of the day felt that yes, I think I like his style, he is advancing my cause and decides to extend his tenure, I have no problem with that.
“Come to think of it, when NNPCL could not put money on the table. It was Soludo that said it on an interview, that the money all the states were sharing was money that came from the customs. I don’t want to dabble into that discussion, anyway. Let Tinubu decide the best about that”, he concluded.
Photo 1: Dr. Kayode Farinto, Managing Director/CEO, Wealthy Honey Investment Limited.
Photo 2: Otunba Abdulazeez Babatunde Mukaila, Managing Director, Mickey Excellency Nigeria Limited.
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