Ali and the Senate

Colonel Hamid Ali (rtd), the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), is about to clash with the Nigerian Senate and the immediate cause is his “ill-timed and ill-conceived” directive to Customs officers to prosecute car owners who do not show evidence of payment of custom duties and impound the vehicles. Having learnt about the planned crackdown via a circular dated March 2, the Senate then resolved to “direct the Nigerian Customs to stop all actions regarding the implementation of the same circular until (NCS) appears before the Senate Committee on Customs to explain in details, the purpose of the circular to the Nigerian public.”

Outside the Senate, there was outrage by many other Nigerians about the trauma and financial hardship that the new policy will cause. Car owners say due to the economic recession in the country, they are already having difficulty renewing their vehicle particulars and paying for fuel. They people have no capacity to pay customs duty on the vehicles they drive and having those vehicles impounded will simply worsen their lives. In any case, having purchased their vehicles many years back, people had no means of ascertaining whether the Customs duty documents given to them were fake or genuine. As Daily Trust pointed out in an editorial, enforcement of the new Customs policy will cause economic and social chaos; where will the NCS keep impounded vehicles and do they have the ability to prosecute millions of offenders?

However, notwithstanding the resolution by the Senate that he should stand down the new Customs policy until the service clarifies its consequences, Hamid Ali has insisted that he will go on with its implementation. Defending the action, the NCS Public Relations Officer, Joseph Attah, declared that Nigerians will actually “gain” from the new policy as it is in line with the National Vehicle Identification System being established by the federal government. According to the service, the NVIS could discourage vehicle smuggling and also enhance national security. In deference to the Senate resolution as well as complaint from diverse sections of Nigerians, Attah said the Comptroller General had approved “60 per cent rebate across the board” on the Customs duty that may be paid by those whose vehicles were 2015 models or older. Attah also disclosed that the NCS took its decision after consulting the Association of Motor Dealers of Nigeria (AMDON).

Now, the Senate has taken offence that Hamid Ali is not backing down on this punishing Customs duty policy. First, it has to be understood that many legislators also dodge the payment of Customs duty because they buy big, sleek ‘tokunbo’ vehicles and will be embarrassed if the NCS flags down those vehicles and ask for non-existent evidence of payment of Customs duty. To show their displeasure and step up the pressure on him, the Senate has now invited “the Comptroller-General to appear in the plenary and in uniform” to face humiliating questions from the likes of Senators Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi) and Solomon Adeola Olamilekun (APC, Lagos).

Senator Olamilekun cited what he called “high-handedness of the Comptroller-General of Customs” and suggested an amendment of the Customs Act “so that all the heads of these agencies will be subject to confirmation from the National Assembly.”

Col Ali has pooh-poohed the order that he should appear at their plenary in uniform, remarking “no, I was not appointed Comptroller-General to wear uniform. Does the uniform work or the person behind the uniform? Am I doing my job or not? I think that’s what should interest the National Assembly.”

Much as the Senators retain the right to question Col Ali on the administration of Customs, they need to apply themselves on substance rather than shadow boxing. If Ali honours their summon and they turn him back from their chamber because he doesn’t wear uniform, they will have lost a good opportunity to drill him on his service to the country and opened themselves to charges of the same high-handedness for which they have accused him. Does the hood make the monk? The question of whether Ali wears Custom uniform or not is inconsequential; the focus should be on whether the NCS facilitates the clearance of goods in good time to enhance business in the country, whether Ali condones or punish corruption, whether he eliminates or minimises smuggling and if he treats the staff fairly and improves morale, among other things.

Otherwise, the Vehicle Owners Association of Nigeria (VOAN) and Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) are already tackling Col Ali on the new Customs duty policy. The VOAN has given him seven days to withdraw the policy or they sue him in court and in the prevailing circumstances, it is very easy for the people to win such a case against NCS. Going ahead, it is also impossible for Ali to enjoy his job except he rescinds this draconian and socially unjust policy.

Dino Melaye will do well to refrain from the use of infantile and obnoxious language against men and women of integrity in the service of this country. “We have asked this man (Ali) in the committee why he is not wearing the rank of comptrollergeneral and he said uniformed men don’t wear uniform twice.…….If after his appearance he insists that he said it, then I will recommend him for psychiatric test.”

Really? Did Col Ali’s statement that uniformed men don’t wear uniform twice justify anyone implying that he is mad? In fairness, Col Hamid Ali appears more stable than Dino Melaye who has formed the habit of fighting everyone in and out of the Senate. Last year, he said shameful things against Senator Oluremi Tinubu inside the Senate and was also spotted in Switzerland wearing jeans and T-shirt at a public event. Dino and his colleagues should stop being pettyminded. Col Hamid Ali needs not wear NCS uniform to do his job.