Osun: Senator Francis Fadahunsi calls for resignation of Customs boss


The Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Customs and Excise, Senator Francis Fadahunsi has called for the resignation of Col. Hameed Ali (rtd.), the Comptroller General (CG) of the Nigeria Customs Service.

Part of the reason for the call for the resignation of the customs boss as advanced by the Senator is that the tenure of the CG has allegedly given room for a corrupt and crisis-ridden customs organisation for the country.

He also advised for a forensic audit to be conducted on the administration of the customs boss in order to set the records straight.

Making the call while fielding questions from journalists on Saturday, Fadahunsi disclosed that corruption had been entrenched in the customs service under the Comptroller General’s watch owing to him being a former military officer without experience in customs affairs.

While questioning the legality of the mode of operations of the service in recent times, Fadahunsi described the situation as perverse corruption and robbery.

According to him, “there is no legal backing for customs officers raiding people’s houses at night under the guise of retrieving and stopping goods and reselling same goods to unsuspecting Nigerians.

“Nigeria’s borders have remained close for quite a time now and this situation has deprived Nigeria of huge revenue generation. What is the intelligence behind the border closures?”

The Senator representing Osun East Senatorial District also decried the shortage of personnel in the service and lack of recruitment into the rank since Col. Ali assumed the position of Comptroller General, adding that the personnel cost has consistently risen to N99 billion.