Senator representing Lagos West, Solomon Adeola, on Sunday said
the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, Col.
Hameed Ali (rtd) should resign his appointment if he cannot wear the
Customs uniform.
Customs Boss, Col.
Hameed Ali, who has refused to wear the service uniform since he was
appointed, had recently explained that he cannot wear Customs uniform
because he’s a former Army officer.
Reacting to Ali’s stance, the lawmaker said it was regrettable that a
retired army colonel who should know the importance of uniforms wants
to demean and undermine it.
In a statement by his Media Adviser, Chief Kayode Odunaro, Adeola
said that the Senate resolution summoning Ali to appear in Custom
Service uniform and rank was aimed at protecting the organization’s
integrity.
The statement reads, “We have had a Major General, Haladu Hanniya as
head of FRSC wearing the agency’s uniform as well as a Major Danjuma
Maigari wearing even the KAI uniform in Lagos State, all in a bid to
promote agencies they lead.
“This is not the Abacha military era when a Sole Administrator was appointed to head the Nigerian Customs.”
The senator stressed that military and paramilitary uniforms
inclusive of ranks were part of the symbol of legitimate authority
conferred on the wearer to carry out certain duties on behalf of the
government.
He said, “Except in covert operations, an officer in these
organizations operating without uniform could be taken to be performing
illegal duty or worse, be taken as not representing the institution at
all.
“And as stated on the floor of the Senate in plenary, the Comptroller
General is a rank that can only be worm on uniform and not on mufti.”