The Senate, on Thursday, refused to grant the Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.), audience, describing the dressing
The Senate, on Thursday, refused to grant the Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.), audience, describing the dressing of the NCS boss as ‘improper’. The lawmakers asked Ali to reappear on Wednesday next week in the uniform of the NCS. The Senate had said the retired colonel must appear before it in NCS uniform, depicting his rank as the DG.
While Ali was waiting to be called into the chamber in the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, the lawmakers held an executive session, which started at about 10.45am and lasted for about 25 minutes. When Ali, who came for the session in white babaringa, was invited into the chamber by the Committee of the Whole, he was challenged for appearing before the lawmakers in mufti.
The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the plenary, asked Ali why he failed to appear in uniform as requested. In his response, the Customs boss said in the last letter from the Senate to him, the lawmakers did not state that he should appear in uniform.
“What I am saying, Mr.President, is that this letter did not connote that I should wear uniform. It is in obedience to this letter that I am here,” he said.
Ekweremadu, however, said the last letter only served as a reminder to the first letter to Ali, in which the Senate asked him to appear before the lawmakers in NCS uniform.
He said, “We have listened to you but as you read in the letter, it said ‘further to the earlier letter’ and the first indicated that you should appear in uniform. This (second letter) is more like a reminder. And more importantly, this is an official invitation.
“We have invited CGs of Customs here before, we have invited Army officers here before – the service chiefs, included the Inspector General of Police – and they have all been here in their appropriate uniforms. If you have any reason why you should not be in uniform, you should oblige us.”
Ali, however, stated that he had not flouted any known law of the Customs by not appearing in uniform.
“My not wearing uniform has not gone contrary to the Act of the Customs. There is no law, to my knowledge, that compels me to wear the uniform. As such, I have no rule before me that says during my service, I have to wear uniform,” he said.
The Deputy Majority Leader, Senator Bala Na’Allah, recalled that he moved the motion that led to the invitation of the Customs boss, noting that it was necessitated by the public outcry that followed the directive of the NCS that Nigerians should pay duties on old vehicles already in the country.
He said, “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 (with) whether you wear the 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.”
Also, Senator Olamilekan Adeola accused the Customs CG of flouting the resolution of the Senate, being the highest lawmaking body in the country.
He said, “The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria issued out a resolution and the content of the resolution is crystal clear, which states that the Comptroller General of Customs appear before us in his uniform. The resolution still stands. But what is happening here today is contrary to the resolution passed by the 109 senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Anybody can dress in mufti and call himself the CG. The Comptroller General is a rank and if the rank is not here, I don’t know who is before us. Yes, they have identified the CG but the question still remains that he still needs to appear before us in full uniform as the Comptroller General of Customs.”
Senator Jibrin Barau also said the lawmakers should not allow Ali to speak before the Senate until he appeared in uniform. Senator Ali Wakili however criticised the Customs boss as grandstanding against the resolution of the Senate.
He said, “I regret his grandstanding. I saw him on TVC when he was grandstanding, that he was not going to wear the uniform. None of us has ever doubted his integrity and his performance. The only nitty-gritty is that we are the real representatives of the people. When the issue of this circular and the border came up, and we came up with a resolution, and the Customs bragged and even went to the public; those are some of the issues.”
The Senate, after the debate, resolved that the Customs CG be asked to return to the Senate on Wednesday next week in the NCS uniform. Meanwhile, some eminent Nigerians have expressed support for the Senate for turning back Ali for his refusal to appear before the lawmakers in the Customs uniform.
The Vice-President, Nigerian Bar Association, Monday Ubani, said although no law compelled the Customs CG to appear before the Senate in uniform, Ali must demonstrate discipline and respect for national institutions by wearing uniform. In his reaction, a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Jiti Ogunye, said the senators were being unreasonable for their insistence that Ali must appear before the Senate dressed in the uniform of the NCS when they knew all along that he was a retired military officer and not a commissioned customs officer.
Punch
