The inglorious exit of Col. Hameed Ali (retd) from the office of the Comptroller General of Customs in June depicts a man with insatiable appetite for power and things of the mundane, a cause for his impending probe for alleged graft
By Innocent Chukwu
In the lyrics of the song “Real Situation” the legendary Bob Nesta Marley captures the unfortunate characteristics of men and women with an insatiable appetite for power, money and lust in these ignominious words to hit: “Give them an inch, they take a yard; give them a yard they take a mile…” Col. Hameed Ali the recently sacked Comptroller General of Customs falls into this debasing characterization of Marley given his alleged plot to perpetuate himself in office to remain the CGC till death did him part with the office he coveted with all sense of passion, thus making him a life CGC.
Similarly, in his 1837 published work, “The Parish Boy’s Progress (Oliver Twist)”, Charles Dickens, the English author characterised an orphan, Oliver Twist, who would always insist on getting more portion of the public patrimony to the detriment of other people, a request that is customarily unacceptable. Twist’s insatiable appetite for more lust forced him out of the farmland he co-habited with others in a shameful manner.
In August 2015, former President Muhammadu Buhari had picked Ali from near obscurity and imposed him by fiat on the psyche of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) by pronouncing him the CG of the NCS at the time. The best many could remember of Ali at the time was that he had a stint in one of the states as a military administrator and retired. His imposition on Customs as their boss was criticised by many as an aberration under a democratic system. This is because on one hand, Ali had retired from the Nigerian Army as a soldier. On the other hand Ali was ignorant of the specialised operations of the NCS he was to inherit as a benefactor. Thirdly, he was imposed on career customs officers who were looking forward to reaching the zenith of their career, the CGC.
Buhari had indicated that Ali’s job would be short-lived when he claimed that the latter’s job as a CGC would be to revamp what he (Buhari) saw as an ailing service, reform it to meet the international best standard for the 21st century, as well as to help the NCS achieved maximum collection of revenues for the government. Stakeholders had, by Buhari’s pronouncement, thought Ali would not spend more than one or two years in achieving the objectives of the Buhari government for the customs.
In an unexpected twist, Ali came into Customs Service and discovered that illicit acquisition of filthy lucre for which senior and management officers were alleged to be neck-dipped in at the time, had become an enticing package accompanying the office of the CGC which he (Ali) was not willing to miss out from. For this reason and purpose, whether with or without the consent, connivance and approval of Buhari, Ali became obsessed with power, influence and money, and plotted not only to loot, allegedly, his own portion of the filthy lucre, but to plant himself in the office of the CGC for life.
The benefits Ali could not enjoy in office as a Military Administrator, including private jets, mouth watering allowances and regular trips abroad among others, quickly blinded his sense of reasoning that power was transient in nature. Hence, from the inch he got to revamp, reform and increase customs revenue, he sought and secured a yard (eight years in customs as CGC), yet he went for a mile (life CGC), blocking many career officers from becoming the CGC. Instructively, if Ali succeeded in his plot to perpetuate himself in office as the CGC, Adewale Adeniyi, the newly appointed acting CGC could not have got to that level in his career because an Oliver Twist-Ali-would do anything, according to his critics to remain in office as CGC for life.
But Ali also had a sinister plot sugar-coated in what many stakeholders refer today to as the Nigeria Customs Modernisation deceit. The plot which has been unveiled by Ali’s critics, was to sell off (concession) customs revenue collection job to Huawei, a Chinese communist’s party-owned communication technology firm. If Ali succeeded in the deceit, he and his family and cronies would become life shareholders in Nigeria Customs revenue, many officers of the service would be forced to retire or rendered ineffective and redundant.
In its edition of April 9, 2023, Tentacle, in a well investigated story captioned “Ali, Customs CG Seeking Tenure Elongation”, had reeled out the plot by Buhari government to ensure that President Bola Tinubu would still retain Ali as the Customs boss after he had served in the same office for eight years. Many said this was part of Ali’s insatiable appetite for power and wealth. To achieve his ambition for serving as CGC under Tinubu, Ali who had stoutly refused to adorn Customs uniform, had allegedly given himself a service number of the NCS.
Priding himself in a self-adopted sobriquet-“Revenue Wizard”-Ali claimed he had raised customs revenue collection to an enviable height and began to lobby Tinubu to retain him as Customs CG under the latter’s government. Tentacle gathered that Ali would plot to block the gazetting of the new Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) 2022 to avoid being forced out of office as the CGC. A section of the CEMA 2022 provides that henceforth non-career officers of the NCS cannot head the service again.
Thus, as Buhari signed the Customs and Excise Management Act Amendment Bill 2022 into law on April 27, 2023 many stakeholders had jumped in jubilation that Ali, a non-career officer would take a bow from the NCS leadership. The CEMA Amendment Bill had been enacted since the 8th Senate waiting for Buhari’s assent which the latter declined to assent to in his bid not to force Ali out of customs job. But as Buhari assented to the bill in 2023 the customs management had one month later issued a statement on why the law would not be gazetted and implemented promptly.
On April 19, 2023, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the NCS, Abdullahi Maiwada, a Chief Superintendent of Customs (CSC) had issued a press statement wherein he said that the effective date for the full implementation of the CEMA 2022 (as amended) remained a priority that would be addressed by the NCS in due course. Many had interpreted the word “due course” as a ploy by Ali to delay the immediate implementation of the Act, hence buying time to wait for Tinubu’s inauguration as president.
For shortly after Tinubu was sworn in, news began to filter that Ali had begun to lobby the Vice President Kashim Shettima and Tinubu’s daughter to help him convince the new president, Tinubu, to retain him as the CGC. A member of the 10th National Assembly who craved anonymity had whispered that Buhari allegedly called on Shettima to help convince Tinubu not to sack Ali because he still had some unfinished job to perform in customs.
The lawmaker who belongs to the lower legislative Chamber of the 10th National Assembly also hinted that Buhari had allegedly mentioned the issue of customs increased revenue to the new VP who promised he would consult with the appropriate stakeholders before taking a decision. Also, Tentacle gathered that Ali had allegedly engaged lobbyists to interface with Tinubu’s daughter to help secure her father’s approval for his (Ali) continued stay as the customs boss.
It was also alleged that Buhari had spoken to Tinubu on Ali’s behalf, urging the new president to allow the sacked CGC to consummate the customs modernization scam. Unfortunately for the parties plotting the Ali-for-life CGC, Tinubu’s advisers had risen to the occasion and insisted Ali must go. Hence, on Monday, June 19, 2023, Tinubu courageously did the needful and booted Ali out of office as the NCS ultimate emperor.
In support of his question for Tinubu to retain Ali, Buhari had said, “As for Hameed Ali, I asked hm to be in charge of Customs. No matter what people said about the late Sani Abacha, may his soul rest in peace.
“I knew him (Abacha) very well when, somehow, he became the President of this country, Head of State, the biggest problematic area was around Kaduna. He picked Col. Hameed Ali and dumped the problems on him. My decision for Hameed Ali to come to customs was a deliberate one. I brought Col. Hameed Ali to ensure that I have peace of mind”.
Buhari made the statement on Tuesday, May 23, 2023 at the occasion of the inauguration of the customs new administrative headquarters in Maitama, Abuja. The inauguration which came barely one week to the termination of Buhari’s tenure as President, was promptly interpreted by analysts of customs affairs as a strategy to market Ali to Tinubu as the only person who holds the magic wand to make customs succeed in Nigeria.
In reaction to Ali’s revenue wizardry in customs as the CGC, a former president of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Eugene Nweke said, “He (Ali) came for intervention, what is he intervening for eight years? Now they’re calling him revenue wizard, what kind of revenue wizard is he? Revenue wizard under what dollar value; –under what inflation rate?
“The N2.3 trillion he claimed to have generated last year is not as valuable as the N800 billion the service generated in 2015 under Dikko if you consider the exchange rate and inflationary rate”.
