Customs Appoint New DCGs, ACGs

In furtherance of its ongoing restructuring exercise, the Nigerian Customs Service has appointed six Acting Deputy Comptrollers-General to fill the gaps created by those who retired recently.

In a statement issued by its Public Relations Officer, Mr Wale Adeniyi on Monday, the service said that the appointments had been approved by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.).

Adeniyi said that the six officers, who were Assistant Comptrollers-General, will occupy their new positions of Deputy-Comptrollers-General in acting capacity.

See the names of the new DCGs below.
1. ACG Idris Suleiman (Finance Administration and TechnicalService)
2. ACG Iya Umar (Tariff and Trade)
3. ACG Dan Ugo (Enforcement, Investigation and Inspection)
4. ACG Grace Adeyemo (Excise, FTZ and Industrial Incentive).
5. ACG Austin Warikoru (Human Resource Development)
6. ACG Paul Ukaigwe (Strategic Research and Policy).

According to the statement, Col Ali also approved the appointment of eight Comptrollers to fill the positions of Assistant Comptrollers-General created in the exercise. See the lucky eight below.

1. Umar Sanusi (ACG Headquarters)
2. Comptroller Funsho Adegoke(ACG Information and Communications Technology)
3. Comptroller Mohammed Abbas (ACG Board)
4. Comptroller Olatunji Aremu (Command  and Staff College)
5. Comptroller Charles Edike (Zonal Coordinator Zone ‘A’)
6. Comptroller Abubakar Dangaladima (Zonal Coordinator Zone ‘B’)
7. Comptroller Azarema Abdulkadir (Zonal Coordinator Zone ‘C’)
8. Comptroller Chidi Augustine (Zonal Coordinator Zone ‘D’).

The statement also announced the redeployment of seven senior officers in the persons of
ACG Adesina Odunmbaku (Finance and Technical Service);  ACG Robert Alu (Tariff and Trade);  ACG Ade Dosumu (Enforcement and Drugs); ACG Monday Abueh (Excise and Industrial Incentive); ACG Ahmed Mohammed (Human Resource Management); ACG Patience Iferi (Strategic Research and Policy) and   Comptroller Aminu Abba (Technical Services).

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We will use rice and wheat to shore up the Naira - Osinbajo

To ease the pressure on the naira, the Federal Government plans to collaborate with farmers in rice producing states to boost the production of the commodity.

According to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, self-sufficiency in rice and wheat production will boost the value of the local currency which currently exchanges for N197 to the dollar at the official market.

Osinbajo said that the Federal Government was exploring self-sufficiency in rice and wheat production as a means of diversifying the economy and strengthening the naira.

He said ; “We are trying to ensure that we are self-sufficient in rice  and wheat production, so that there will be less pressure on the dollar. One of the major issues is that we have to earn more foreign exchange to raise the value of the naira. We also have to do more business internally to  raise the value of the naira. So diversifying the economy is an important way to strengthen the value of the naira.”

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How oil barons forced me out of EFCC - Waziri

Former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mrs Farida Waziri on Saturday in Makurdi, Benue State disclosed that she was a subject of “fierce attacks, slander, blackmail and threats” from oil barons while she held sway at the anti graft agency.

She said that her only sin was trying to end oil money induced corruption.

In a statement read on her behalf by her media aide, Ade Williams at Benue State University, Makurdi during the inauguration of World Bank’s Africa Centre of Excellence Project, Cen­tre for Food Technology and Research,  Mrs Waziri who lamented the country's over-dependence on oil revenue said that she was happy with President Buhari's anti corruption crusade.

“No doubt, our over-dependence on oil revenue has brought us to the point where we are as a nation today. As an anti-corruption czar, I have seen how some of those the nation entrusted with its oil resources in the past helped themselves more than the country.

“With our focus on agri­culture, the struggle by politi­cal office holders to steal oil fund would diminish while the national wealth will be in the hands of the people instead of a privileged greedy few. We cannot all dig oil wells in our backyard, but we can all farm in our back­yards. It is time to end oil-money induced corruption in our land by buying into President Buhari’s vision and take ownership.

“I have made my contributions in the fight to discourage that and even recovered some of the looted funds in billions of dollars. For daring to do that, I came under fierce attacks, slander, blackmail and threats, but by God’s grace and long years of experience, I survived all. I am glad today that indeed, there is a new sheriff in town,” she said.

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See what the 5 Customs Deputy Comptrollers-General wrote in their retirement letter.

“We, the under listed officers currently on the rank of Deputy Comptroller-General met today, October 29, and unanimously agreed to voluntarily retire from the service of the Nigerian Customs Service having risen to the privileged rank of Deputy Comptroller-General.

“We thank the President for giving us the opportunity to serve our great nation.”

Well, Abujacitynews hopes the nation can also thank them for serving well.

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400 More Heads To Roll at Nigerian Customs Service

In addition to the top officers who voluntarily retired from the Nigerian Customs Service last week, about 400 officers are fast on their way out of the service.

Reasons adduced for the imminent retirement of these officers include corruption, indiscipline, insubordination and absenteeism.

While some of the officers marked for retirement are alleged to have influenced their own promotions, others are said to have flouted redeployment directives by refusing to report at their new postings.

Some of the officers are also said to be in the habit of lobbying legislators to influence Customs management.

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I won't stop telling Nigerians how PDP plundered the economy - Buhari

Following a recent criticism by PDP spokesman, Chief Olisa Metuh that President Buhari was demarketing Nigeria, the presidency has said that Buhari will remain true to Nigerians and the International community by always telling them the truth.

Buhari had during his recent visit to India said that Nigeria was broke and could therefore not afford to engage 42 ministers as was done by the previous administration.

The PDP spokesman had subsequently criticized him for selling Nigeria cheap before the international community by saying that the country could not afford to pay cabinet ministers.

Reacting to Metuh's claims, Presidential spokesman, Mr Femi Adeshina said in a statement he issued to newsmen that Buhari would not be distracted from his obligations to the Nigerian people.

He said ; “Our attention has been drawn to the latest statement by the PDP spokesman, Olisa Metuh, alleging that President Muhammadu Buhari is ‘demarketing Nigeria’.

“We restate for the umpteenth time to Mr. Metuh and his ilk that their attempts to distract President Buhari from the job he has been elected to do will fail.

“President Buhari will remain true to the virtues of honesty, integrity, sincerity, incorruptibility and plain-speaking, which endeared him to Nigerians and made them prefer his leadership to that of a lying and deceptive PDP administration.

“The President will not, in the guise of ‘marketing’ the country, refrain from telling Nigerians and the world, the emerging truths about the abject state in which years of plundering by a PDP leadership has left the Nigerian treasury and economy.

“President Buhari will not in the name of ‘marketing’ or ‘attracting’ investors, follow in the footsteps of the ousted PDP administration and its discredited officials, who shamelessly lied to Nigerians and the world about the buoyancy and vibrancy of an economy they had bled dry for personal gain, when it was very obvious to the discerning, that the Nigerian economy was headed for serious trouble.”

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$5.2b Fine :MTN Pleads For Staggered Payment

Telecommunications giant, MTN has pleaded for staggered payment of the $5.2b fine imposed on it by the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC for violating its guidelines on the deactivation of unregistered SIM cards.

Feelers from government quarters indicate that following a series of meetings between the company's management team from South Africa and Nigeria and the Federal Government, an agreement is being reached on the modalities for the payment.

“There have been series of meetings at the Presidency between the Vice President Osinbajo and MTN team both from South Africa and the Nigerian arm. MTN wanted a waiver considering their level of investments in the country, but government did not buy the idea of waiver. Instead, I think there will be concession, but certainly not a waiver. At the conclusion of the meeting, the MTN people negotiated on how to stagger the payment. The Presidency is even angry because MTN was a signatory to the regulation, but they are failing to comply with rules," said a source close to the negotiations.

NCC had earlier hinted that MTN risked losing its license if it failed to pay the fine.

It is believed that Government's hard stance on the matter is due to the enormous implications of the offense on national security.

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