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Maritime stakeholders call for probe of sacked CGC, Hameed Ali—urge Tinubu to review Customs modernisation project 

Ali, former CGC
The eyewitness reporter
The stakeholders in the maritime industry, who are still basking in the euphoria of the sack of Col.(rtd) Hameed Ali as the Comptroller-General of Customs, have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to immediately institute a panel of inquiry into the eight years administration of the former Customs boss.
According to them, their call was borne out of the massive dislocation and distortions visited on the Customs operational procedure by the ousted retired army colonel.
The respondents said that the sacked CGC especially sacrificed trade facilitation, which is one of the critical functions of the Customs, on the altar of revenue generation.
They claimed that the posting of Area Comptrollers, especially to the grade A commands, was primarily based on the capacity of the officers to generate huge revenue, not the ability to facilitate trade.
“This has made the area commands to be more aggressive in generating revenue more than they could facilitate trade.
“This made Ali foisted on the hapless importers and their agents, harsh and anti-trade policies that scared away most of the importers and encourage smuggling” the respondents chorused.
The industry practitioners also wanted the President to take a hard look at the Customs Modernisation project which they claimed was fraught with fraud.
Lucky Amiwero, the factional National President of the National Council of Managing Director of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), said the sack of Hameed Ali, was a good decision for the health of the Nigeria Customs.
He however asked the President to probe the activities of Ali as the CGC because, according to him, he wrought a lot of damage on the Customs
“Tinubu should probe Ali’s activities in the Nigeria Customs Service because a lot of things went wrong.
” He destroyed the maritime system. Customs is not a military service, it is a procedural service that has a linkage with the World Customs Organisation (WCO).
” He doesn’t know anything about Customs operations. He came to reform Customs by destroying the entire system.
“There is a need for the reorganisation of customs and probing his activities for the number of years he spent in the service.”
Taiwo Fatomilola, the spokesman of the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (AREFFN) agreed with Amiwero by hailing the removal of Ali.
“Removing Ali is the best thing in Nigeria because he has been a curse to the economy and trade facilitation.
“He doesn’t have a single understanding of how customs operate, he is just a political appointee by the former president Muhammadu Buhari.

“When he was there, he allowed the embattled former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele to determine what happens in the Customs, the target and talking about benefits.

“For Emefiele to say the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) is an advisory note, it shouldn’t be. His removal is the best for Nigeria’s economy, importation and for the entire maritime industry,” he said.

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Customs

Group confers “continental” award on Adeniyi over customs’ phenomenal revenue record

Adeniyi, CGC
Funso OLOJO
The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, C.G.C Adewale Bashir Adeniyi, has been nominated and approved to be honoured with “The Continent Man of The Year 2024” Award by Board of Editors and Publishers of Continent magazine.
This resolution was announced by the spokesman of the group, Mr David Oladimeji, at the end of group’s meeting held on Friday, September 13th, 2024 in Abuja.
The meeting was organized by” The Continent “Magazine to deliberate on a personality and organisation deserving of the Award.
The Board’s attention was drawn to the statement made recently by former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (C.B.N) and sitting Governor of Anambra state, Prof Chukwuma Soludo,who told his constituents in Awka that the Customs and F.I.R.S have sustained the nation’s economy from collapse since February this year, when the NNPCL stopped remittance of statutory revenue to the Federation Account for onward disbursements to the three tiers of governments.
Oladimeji said “the Board noted that this is not an easy task to be achieved under the astute and dedicated leadership of C.G.C Adeniyi, considering the fact that the Customs and it’s officers have been perceived by the public as corrupt and fraudulent”
” In a bid to commend and encourage leaders of the customs and F.I.R.S as well as their lieutenants not to rest on their oars, the Board resolved to honour the C.G.C, his Command Controllers and Revenue Collectors who had made significant sacrifices and excelled in their national anti-smuggling, revenue collection assignments with “The Continent Man of The Year” and “Pillars of Nigerian Economy 2024″ Awards”
As plans are geared towards the  celebration of the international and national icons at a date to be announced soon, “The Continent” special edition will publish the profile and achievements of the deserving recipients that earned them recognition and honour.
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NIMASA secures support of Bank of Industry for enhanced capacity building in maritime industry

Funso OLOJO

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has broker a partnership with  the Bank of Industry (BOI) to enhance its capacity building effort in the maritime industry.

The Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, represented by the Executive Director of Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, Mr. Jibril Abba, made this disclosure during a visit by the Management of the Bank of Industry, led by Executive Director of Large Enterprises, Mrs. Ifeoma Uz’Okpala.

 He stated, “In addition to safety, security, and maritime labor, the Agency’s mandate encompasses capacity development aimed at growing the sector.”
He also reaffirmed the Agency’s commitment to collaboration as a vital tool for achieving its mandate.

“The aim is to actualize the vision of the Federal Government to reposition the maritime sector, especially with the creation of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy”, he said.

On her part, the Executive Director of Large Enterprises at BOI, Mrs. Uz’Okpala, affirmed the Bank’s readiness to support NIMASA.

She also emphasized the importance of collaboration in implementing a robust capacity-building initiative that will contribute to economic growth in Nigeria.

Bank of Industry Limited is Nigeria’s oldest and largest Development Finance Institution (DFI) currently in operation.

It is owned by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) Nigeria (94.80%), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) (5.19%) and private shareholders (0.01%)

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Headlines

NIMASA secures support of Bank of Industry for enhanced capacity building in maritime industry

Funso OLOJO

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has broker a partnership with  the Bank of Industry (BOI) to enhance its capacity building effort in the maritime industry.

The Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, represented by the Executive Director of Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, Mr. Jibril Abba, made this disclosure during a visit by the Management of the Bank of Industry, led by Executive Director of Large Enterprises, Mrs. Ifeoma Uz’Okpala.

 He stated, “In addition to safety, security, and maritime labor, the Agency’s mandate encompasses capacity development aimed at growing the sector.”
He also reaffirmed the Agency’s commitment to collaboration as a vital tool for achieving its mandate.

“The aim is to actualize the vision of the Federal Government to reposition the maritime sector, especially with the creation of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy”, he said.

On her part, the Executive Director of Large Enterprises at BOI, Mrs. Uz’Okpala, affirmed the Bank’s readiness to support NIMASA.

She also emphasized the importance of collaboration in implementing a robust capacity-building initiative that will contribute to economic growth in Nigeria.

Bank of Industry Limited is Nigeria’s oldest and largest Development Finance Institution (DFI) currently in operation.

It is owned by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) Nigeria (94.80%), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) (5.19%) and private shareholders (0.01%).

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