Ali cancels ‘permanent posting’ in Customs

Hameed Ali, comptroller-general of the Nigeria Customs Service says the era of permanent posting to unit commands and departments is over in the service.

Speaking when he visited the Abuja command of the service, Ali said anyone who had spent up to three years in a unit should expect posting.

He restated his previous warnings that corrupt officers will not survive under him, and urged his men to be on guard.

He emphasised the need for officers to imbibe discipline in carrying out their duties, saying the era of “god-fatherism” had ended and officers would have to work to earn their promotion.

“The general view of the public is that customs is the most undisciplined and corrupt service because of the nature of our job that needs to be addressed,” he said.

“All officers are under close watch because if any mistake is done by any unit command, it will register internationally and that is not good for the image of the service.

“You are not in customs to make money and enrich yourself but to work hard because if you are caught you must face the law. None of you should make me use you as an example; if your intention is to be corrupt then you cannot survive this time around.

“No more god-fatherism in customs; you will earn promotion, not get promotion and for you to earn it, you must attain the qualification based on performance evaluation.”

Ali said officers’ welfare would be upgraded and urged them to work hard in carrying out their duties to boost the service revenues.

The customs boss said that the service was doing everything possible to meet its 2015 revenue target set by the federal government.

“We (customs) are working hard to meet our set target by the federal government, which is N944 billion for 2015,” he said.

“We are hopeful of that and with the cooperation of all segments in our industry, commitment of people and now with the new management we have gotten in place, I am optimistic that we would achieve our goal.

“Fighting corruption, let me say, is not the job of customs alone; it is not the job of police; it is a job for everybody. So, if we as individuals are ready to rid our minds of corruption, I am sure our jobs would be very easy.

“Enforcement is again the second option; we must enforce; there must be punishment for infraction and reward for those who comply.”

Ali also visited the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), National Environmental Standard and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), and the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

He said the essence of the visit to the stakeholders was to further strengthen collaboration between the agencies to achieve a common goal of improving the economy.