Human Rights Activist and National Chairman of the National
Conscience Party (NCP), Yinusa Tanko, has described the situation
between the Senate and the Customs Comptroller General, Colonel Hameed
Ali, as that of democratic power versus military mentality in a
democratic setting.
He made the position known while
addressing the issues that led to the summoning of the Customs CG by the
Senate and the compulsion to appear in his complete uniform.
“The
senate is trying to consolidate its power to say, this is the
representative of the people, this House represents the interest of
Nigerians and so when we call you, Nigerians call you and you must
answer to the question of Nigeria.
“Here, you have an
ex-military man, who comes from a big military background, who is trying
to show that I’ve been a military man and in this my own profession
that I have learned, there are things that cannot go down well with me
as an ex-military man.”
Although Col. Ali had argued
that there was no law to his knowledge that compelled him to wear the
uniform, the NCP Chairman stated that according to some of the Senators,
Section 2 of the Customs Act compels the CG to be in his uniform.
According
to him, it must be understood that this is a democratic setting and the
processes that brought him in must be understood.
Meanwhile,
many hold the opinion that the real issue which led to the summoning of
the Customs Comptroller General had been pushed to the background, and
the focus had shifted to whether or not he appeared in uniform.
On
his part, the NCP Chairman admitted to the fact that some of the major
issues had been ignored, while also advocating that policies should be
made in the interest of Nigerians.
“People who take up
offices do not really read up on the kind of laws governing those
offices and this is why anyone who is applying into any leadership role
should read up on the laws guiding that office.
“If You
want to achieve an aim, in ensuring that the system is clean, where
there is need for you to do some things in order to get to that
particular place, do them so that you would not have this particular
altercation that does not depict the kind of person that you are”.
Mr Ali had been summoned to explain the Service’s new directive on duties to be paid on imported vehicles.
Although he eventually appeared before the Senate on Thursday, he made good on his word of not appearing in his uniform.
The
House, however, refused to engage the CG and fixed another date (March
22), for him to appear as required; failure to which the Senate
leadership might be forced to issue an arrest warrant as initially
threatened.
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