ABUJA, FEBRUARY 3, 2017 – The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Colonel Hameed Ali (rtd), has come under fire from members of the Senate Committee on Customs for taking some actions without the approval of a Customs board.
The committee invited Colonel Ali to the National Assembly in Abuja to give reasons for certain actions he took in the last few months.
Some of the actions that were criticised by the lawmakers on Thursday include the promoting and dismissal of some officers in the service.
The senators noted that the Customs boss went above his powers in performing the actions without the approval of a Customs board.
They added that they were not satisfied with the explanations given by the Comptroller-General and frowned at his refusal to wear the uniform of the service.
In a separate session, the lawmakers met with former Comptroller-Generals of Customs to discuss ways of improving the revenue collection of the service, as well as the amendment of the Customs Act.
The committee noted that it would call a public hearing on the amendment of the Customs Act.
In the meantime, the lawmakers said they might reverse some of the decisions made by the Customs boss, as they were made without the approval of a Customs board.
However, a Customs board has not been constituted by the Minister of Finance since the last board was dissolved.
