Group Faults Ali’s Appointment As Customs Boss

The appointment of Col Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd) by President Muhammadu Buhari as the new Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service has been kicked against by the League of Maritime Editors.

The group, in a statement issued Friday by its president, Ovie Edomi, urged the President to reconsider the matter and appoint a serving Customs officer to head the body.

Edomi, in the statement, pointed out that the appointment of an outsider to head the government agency may kill professionalism.

“First, the desire of every top Customs officer is to get to the peak of the career and impact on younger officers but in a situation where officers who have gotten to the peak cannot be called upon to head the Customs, it creates room for lack of confidence, low morale and dissatisfaction among the rank and file,” the statement said.

“The crop of Customs officers that Nigeria presently have are well trained at home and abroad and can stand out amongst other Customs officers globally. It would only have been fair for Mr President to appoint from among the rank and file of the top Customs officers a Comptroller-General, in the spirit of career progression and professionalism.

“No doubt, Mr President may have made the appointment, but Nigerians must understand that the Nigerian Customs service of today occupies a place of pride in the World Customs Association, an arm of the World Trade Organization because of the professionalism that has been displayed over the last decade by Nigerian Customs officers.

“While our beloved President may be thinking of generating revenue and blocking linkages in the Customs, professionalism that makes the Customs so highly respected amongst nations must not be destroyed. It is in this light, that l call on Mr President to take another look at the appointment of a military man to head the Customs,” Edomi submitted.