Comp-General Hameed Ali shuns Senate Customs Act repeal

Members of Senate Committee on Customs and Excise duties and Stakeholders were shocked on Monday when the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali (rtd.), shunned the move to repeal a 58-year old Act meant to enhance the efficiency of the agency.

The Public hearing which is scheduled to hold in a day is‎ “A Bill for an Act to Repeal the Customs and Excise Management Act Bill 2016” 

Ali who failed to attend the hearing also refused to send presentation to the committee, a development which infuriated the Senators in the Committee.

The Senate did not only find the situation offensive but also believed that it was a deliberate attempt by the leadership of NCS to treat the apex legislative institution with contempt.

However, in his welcome address, Chairman, Senate Committee on Customs and Excise, Senator Hope Uzodinma, said the National Assembly was determined to amend the Customs and Excise Act to ensure the evolvement “of an effective, efficient and result-oriented department or agency.”

He added that the Senate was also determined to also ensure that the process of revenue collection was strengthened in accordance with best practices.

He observed that “Customs department of our dear country ought to be a major revenue earner that should be capable of funding at least 50 per cent of the national budget. 

“This should also be a critical department that should boost non-oil revenue of the government and fund infrastructural development.

“Why is our own story different? The answer is simple. 

“For 58 years, our Customs department has operated with a Colonial Act that has not only become obsolete and unrealistic but fraught with many loopholes for revenue leakages. 

“It is not the best thing that has happened to the customs and excise department that to date it has been guided by a 1958 Colonial Act.”

Declaring the public hearing open, Senate President Bukola Saraki said the move to repeal the age-long bill was borne out of Senate’s desire to reposition the NCS with a view to ensuring that the agency “plays the pivotal role it is expected to play as a major funder of the federal budget.”

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