'Wear uniform or resign,' - Senate to Customs boss

Hameed Ali

The Senate has asked the Hammed Ali, who is the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, to quit his job if he cannot appear before it in his uniform.

Recall that last Thursday, during plenary, the upper chamber made it mandatory for Ali to appear before it in his proper Customs uniform over the agency's plan to impound old vehicles that does not possess customs duty from April.

On Sunday, March 12, An APC Senator, Solomon Adeola, representing Lagos West, said: "If retired Colonel Ali cannot respect the Customs service or he's ashamed of wearing its uniform and rank of his position while appearing before peoples’ representatives, then he should honourably resign.”

The Senator also clarified that the Senate required Ali to wear his uniform in order to protect the organizational integrity and discipline in the agency.

At the Thursday session, Adeola had supported Senator Dino Melaye on the need for the Senate to check Ali's leadership skill.

He said the Customs boss is "carrying out the affairs of this agency as if he is the managing director or the commander-in-chief of this country."

In response to the instruction, the Comptroller General said he would not wear his uniform to the National Assembly, stating that he was not appointed to wear the uniform. Ali who has always been in mufti while carrying out official duties since his appointment.

Ali’s statement prompted Senator Adeola to say: "Military and paramilitary uniforms inclusive of ranks are part of the symbol of legitimate authority conferred on the wearer to carry out certain duties on behalf of the government.

"Except in covert operations, an officer in these organizations operating without uniform could be taken to be performing illegal duty or worse, be taken as not representing the institution at all. And as stated on the floor of the Senate in plenary, the Comptroller General is rank that can only be worn on uniform and not on mufti.

"The APC-led Government of President Muhammadu Buhari was elected on the promise of change, adherence to rule of law and renunciation of impunity in any forms.

“The story we hear daily is the arrogance and high-handedness of the CG and name dropping of the President. We had it on good authority of his reluctance to be answerable to the Minister of Finance as stipulated in laws of the land.

“We that were elected cannot look the other way while the people we represent are subjected to avoidable hardship orchestrated by an unelected appointee in a bid to cure the inefficiencies of the agency he leads. We are in a democracy."

The lawmaker emphasized that the Senate supports Buhari's anti-corruption initiative as well as effort to improve the country’s revenue in a bid to pull nation out of recession but warned that nobody should use personal agenda to drive public policy.