50% of PDP members in Buhari’s gov’t – Hameed Ali
APC has derailed, says Customs boss
The Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), retired Colonel Hameed Ali, says the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)-led federal government seems to find it difficult to move forward and achieve its targets because 50 per cent of members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) are in the government.
Ali spoke yesterday at the commissioning and official opening of the national headquarters of the Buhari Support Organisations (BSO) in Abuja.
“Today, with all sense of responsibility, I want to say that we have 50 per cent of PDP in our government. How can we move forward with this load? How can we achieve our target with this load? Today, we have members of the PDP calling the shots. That is what we will begin to fight for, we will fight for our right position, our vision and our mission for this government,” he said.
Ali apologised for delving into politics, and added: “But it is very essential because we are a political organisation. It is time for us to wake up from slumber and chart a course for this great nation.”
The Customs CG lamented that those who fought for the installation of the government of change were yet to be fully appreciated, saying the BSO must get back to the trenches and champion the new battle for good governance.
“We must do so because we want to save our name and the name of the president for what he is doing. Our president is on course and all we need is to ensure that we support him,” Ali said, adding that the APC government has derailed halfway into the journey, through the gradual loss of its core values, vision and mission.
“We have no problem with our President because he is on course. But I must confess here that we have been infused by people who were not part of this journey and these people are the ones that call the shots today,” he also said.
Ali added, “It is my belief that those of us who have been in the trenches all these years to get good governance will surely be sleeping with belly ache every day, especially in the recent past. Every day, when you wake up, there is a story that makes you cringe. We cannot sit back and allow things to happen the way they are happening. “
“We are the ones that will be asked to account for what happened. Are we willing to face Nigerians and tell them that we have failed? I think this is the time for us to come together, create a system to fight back and take back government in our hands and ensure that we deliver.”
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was represented by the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammed Musa Bello at the ceremony which was attended by the governors of Bauchi, Kogi and Plateau states.The event, hosted by the Customs CG and chaired by Senator Olorunnibe Mamora, was also attended by the ministers of Defence, Niger Delta, Trade (State), Health (State), Senator Magmus Abe, Umana Umana, Festus Keyamo, Ita Enang, and Muhammad Sanusi Dagash, among other APC bigwigs.