Customs vs Senate: Freight forwarders back Ali on uniform

The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders has threatened to drag the Comptroller General, Nigeria Custom Service, Col. Hameed Ali (Retd.) to court if he bows to pressure from the Senate and wear the Customs uniform.

According to the group, Ali is not a career Customs officer and cannot be compelled to wear the union of the service.

He said the CG of Customs was only on a presidential assignment with clearly defined mandate to restructure the service and increase government’s revenue.

The President, NAGAF, Oluwole Adeyemi, described any attempt by Ali to wear the uniform as a wrong assumption of the character of an NCS officer, pointing out that execution of the task given to him should be of more concern to Nigerians than the issue of uniform.

He said that anything that affected the Customs boss and his administration affected them directly.

The statement read in part, “For emphasis, NAGAF is the umbrella body of freight forwarding practitioners whose members are made of corporate bodies licensed by the NCS to perform functions in relation to Customs formalities under section 154 of Customs laws

“It is a fact that anything to the contrary in the administration and management of the Customs laws affects freight practitioners directly as critical stakeholders in the ports and border entry points.

“If we decide to keep quiet, we may not be adding value to our profession and democracy in Nigeria, which is predicated on rule of law. We shall approach the court to interpret the essence of the CG (Ali) wearing the Customs uniform for the reason that he is not a commissioned officer of the service.”

It added that going by Section 10 of the Customs and Excise Management Act Cap C45 of 2004 as amended, asking Ali to wear the Customs uniform would amount to unlawful assumption of the character of an officer of the service.

“This is because he is not a trained customs officer and commissioned to wear such uniform.

“The point herein canvassed is to state clearly that Ali has a specific duty to perform under the presidential mandate other than wearing Customs uniform. What should be discussed is to what extent he has been able to reform, restructure and enhance revenue collection functions of the service after one year in office.”