Fear Grips Senior Officers As Customs CG; Hameed Ali Orders Declaration Of Assets Within 14 Days

Palpable fear has enveloped senior officers of the Nigeria Customs Service , following last weekend’s directive of the Service’s Comptroller-General, Hameed Ali, that they should all declare their assets within 14 days.
A circular signed by the Comptroller-General and addressed to all deputy comptrollers-general, zonal coordinators and customs area controllers said the new measure was aimed at ensuring transparency and compliance with the rule of law.
Many officers are apprehensive of the outcome of the exercise. An officer told our correspondent that, the asset declaration exercise may be aimed at getting at officers who are perceived to have amazed wealth.
He however explained that smart officers won’t need to declare more than what their salaries can afford.
Most officers whose reactions were sought declined to comment, even as they unanimously agree that, it may turn out to be an exercise in futility.
According to the CG of Customs the assets’ declaration directive was in compliance with “the Bank Employees Declaration of Assets Act Cap B1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004”.
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The circular said although the Act provides for asset declaration by all bank employees, it also empowers the president to extend its application to other categories of persons.
“Specifically, Section 12 (1) states that “The provision of this act shall apply to the comptroller-general, deputy comptroller-general, assistant comptroller-general, chief collector, principal collector and other officer, staff or employee of the Nigeria Customs Service as it applies to a chief executive or an employee of a bank,” said the circular.

The comptroller-general observed that many officers had not complied with the provisions of the act over the years, stating that the 14-day ultimatum for compliance would be strictly enforced.
And confirming the directive on Friday, via a press statement, Customs Public Relations Officer, Mr Wale Adeniyi, said that the Comptroller-General had observed that many officers had not complied with the provisions of the Act over the years, adding that the 14-day ultimatum for compliance would be strictly enforced.