Senator Solomon Adeola has called on Hammed Ali, Comptroller-General of Customs, to resign if he won’t wear uniforms while appearing before the Nigerian Senate.

In a statement by his Media Adviser, Chief Kayode Odunaro, Senator Adeola said that the Senate resolution summoning Ali to appear in Custom Service uniform and rank was aimed at protecting the organization’s integrity.

The statement reads, “We have had a Major General, Haladu Hanniya as head of FRSC wearing the agency’s uniform as well as a Major Danjuma Maigari wearing even the KAI uniform in Lagos State, all in a bid to promote agencies they lead.

“This is not the Abacha military era when a Sole Administrator was appointed to head the Nigerian Customs.”

“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 a rank that can only be worm on uniform and not on mufti.”

”There is concern among officers and men of the Customs Service on the appointment of ‘outsider’ to head the agency as it is a morale killer, career progression inhibitor as well as damaging to the organizational growth of the service stressing that there may be need to amend the Nigerian Customs Act to restrict appointment of CG to career officers as it is done in the Nigerian Police Force, the Nigerian Immigrations and the Nigerian Prisons Service.

“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 Senator added.

Source:- Newshelm