Any moment from now, the Federal Government will formally announce the appointment of Yobe State born M. Mohammed as the new Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), we can authoritatively report. Impeccable sources at the Presidency informed that Mohammed, who is presently one of the about a dozen Assistant Comptrollers-General in the Service, will be succeeding Alhaji Dikko Inde Abdullahi, who attained four years in office as Comptroller-General of Customs on Sunday, August 18, 2013. From all indications, the outgoing Customs chief had his last major public outing in the position on Monday at the formal launching of the Nigeria Trade Hub (NTH) Portal and the Nigeria Import, Export and Transit Process Manual at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, There has been controversy that President Goodluck Jonathan’s may extend, by two years, of the tenure Alhaji Dikko Inde Abdullahi. On August 18, 2013, the incumbent Customs chief would be four years in office, the number of years that have over time become the seemingly-standard tenure for appointees of government parastatals, except if aborted or renewed, following the trend of the tenure of elected officials of government.. Curiously, the only public evidence of the alleged tenure extension for the Customs chief is a full-page congratulatory message in a newspaper yesterday. It would be recalled that the Chairman of the House Committee on Customs, Sabo Mohammed Nakudu, recently said that the office of the Comptroller-General of Customs is not subject to a fixed tenure. Nakudu’s comment came against the background of recent moves by desperate lobby groups to force the President to remove Abdullahi as Comptroller-General of Customs, on the grounds that he would be four years in office on August 18, 2013. Nakudu had said in Abuja that neither the 1958 Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) currently governing the Service, nor the provisions of the Customs and Excise Management Bill 2011, fixed a limit on the tenure of the Comptroller-General of Customs. “The appointment, tenure and removal of the CG is purely the decision of the president,” he said. It would also be recalled that the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, recently expressed satisfaction with the on-going reform programme of the NCS. The Minister, who commended the NCS after a meeting of the Customs Board, disclosed that, in a few months, the Service would take full charge of all its responsibilities. “I think from what I hear that it’s going relatively ok, it’s not easy. I don’t think there’s any organisation that goes through a transition period without some pains. I think the Customs is handling itself fairly well and I count on the CG to ensure a smooth transition. And it’s only a couple more months, two three more months and customs is in charge. So I am sure that everybody is gearing up,” Okonjo-Iweala had said.
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