FOR not wearing complete uniform as instructed, the Senate, yesterday, walked out the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali, retd, and asked him to return next Wednesday in complete Customs uniform.
Senators asked Ali to leave the plenary because rather than wear Customs uniform, he appeared in a white kaftan dress with white cap and black shoes to match. According to them, Ali is not a sole administrator; as Customs CG, he has to be dressed as such to appear before them because anybody can wear a mufti and claim to be the NCS boss.
The lawmakers disagreed with Ali that no law compels him to wear the Customs uniform as one of them recalled that Ali was one of those who got the current uniform introduced in 2004
Ali’s thorny visit to the Senate occurred as the NCS’ N8.5 billion virement request to complete its headquarters sufered a setback in the House of Representatives with the legislators querying the variation of consultancy fee from N206 million to one billion naira.
Ali, who arrived the Senate at about 9.30am was ushered into the Senate chambers at 12.05 pm and was promptly asked by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the sitting, why he was not in uniform. It took the senators some 40 minutes to deliberate on Ali’s matter before he was sent out of the chamber for what the lawmakers termed ‘’improper dressing.’’
The Customs boss who came with Customs officers who all wore uniform, was asked to leave the chamber at12.40 pm.
The lawmakers had insisted on Wednesday that Ali must appear before them, yesterday, unfailingly after he had submitted a letter to the office of Senate President Bukola Saraki to explain his inability to appear at the Wednesday’s plenary.
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