A retired Assistant Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service, Mr Ade Fadahunsi; MFR has advocated an upward review in the salary and allowances of serving personnel of the Service.
Mr Fadahunsi who retired from the Service inn 2008 made the appeal at the recently concluded open hearing on the activities of the Nigeria Customs Service which held at the National Assembly where he compared the take- home pay of personnel of the Customs with that of another revenue collecting agency; the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
He told the House of Representatives committee on Customs that it was regrettable that while the least paid employee in FIRS earns about N250, 000 monthly, his counterpart in the Customs collects a paltry N40,000 monthly and attributed this to abandonment of the service and obsolete laws which governs the service.
“Comparing the Service remuneration with that of other revenue collectors, the Nigeria Customs Service is short-changed. For example, a Grade Level 04 officer’s take home pay is N40, 000 only, while a Comptroller earns N150, 000monthly. It is rumoured that the least paid officer in the Federal Inland Revenue Service goes home with N250, 000.00 only, monthly”.
Mr Fadahunsi who is reputed to be one of the best anti-smuggling officer in the Service retired from the Customs as the zonal coordinator in charge of Bauchi zone, but has kept touch with the Service since his exit.
He told the Yakubu Dogara-led committee that leadership and succession struggle has taken its toll on the Service pointing out that: “when an officer joins the Service, his utmost ambition is to rise to the post of Comptroller General of Customs (CGC). But this has not been the case since 1984 till 1998 when seasoned and serving officers were not appointed to the rank of C.G.C”.
Fadahunsi whose submission at the lower chamber has been roundly commended stakeholders also advocated a strengthening of the customs zonal structure and granting of more powers to the zones.
(Please see some details on page 9)
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