Reps panel summons customs CG over ‘refusal’ of personnel to retire

The house of representatives committee on public petitions has summoned Adewale Adeniyi, the comptroller-general (CG) of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), over the alleged refusal of some officers to quit the service after attaining retirement age.

Obasi-Pherson Help Foundation, a civil society organisation (CSO), had petitioned the lower legislative chamber, claiming that some officials with the ranks of comptroller and assistant comptroller were due for retirement but had refused to disengage from the service.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Mike Etaba, chairman of the house committee on public petitions, said Adeniyi must appear before the panel next Tuesday and explain why some personnel have refused to retire in line with the civil service rule.

“Nigerians deserve to know the truth of the matter, and it is only the CG that can clarify the situation,” the statement reads.

“We are elected to serve the people, and ensuring that all government agencies function effectively is part of that service.

“In this era when most of our youths are looking for jobs, it will be wrong for the older ones who are due for retirement to refuse to go.”

“That is not to say we shall take sides, far from it. We treat each case on merit, ensuring that justice is given at all times to the deserving.”

The committee also threatened to issue an arrest warrant for Abisoye Coker-Odusote, the director-general of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), over an alleged breach of a software development license agreement with Truid Limited.

In a petition, E.R. Opara, counsel for Truid Limited, claimed that the agreement was based on an arrangement in which the firm funded, developed, and deployed the tokenisation system without any financial obligation from NIMC.

In return, Truid would recover its investment through service provider patronage, with proceeds shared according to a predetermined ratio.

The agreement was initially set to run for 10 years, starting from 2021, when the software was deployed.

Opara said the NIMC DG has been attempting to terminate the agreement since she was appointed by President Bola Tinubu.

Speaking on the matter, Etaba said the committee would issue a warrant of arrest for Coker-Odusote if she fails to appear before the panel.

“If she fails to show up at the next hearing of this case, we will have no option other than to ask the inspector-general of police to bring her,” the lawmaker said.

“How can an official of government treat constituted authority with such levity? We can no longer condone such an attitude.”

The committee handles petitions referred to it by the house.