The appointment of the new Comptroller General of Customs has predictably stimulated strong reactions from various quarters in the country. No sooner had the announcement been made than some newspapers were inundated with sponsored congratulatory advertisements.
The rapidity with which the deluge of these sponsored advertisements emerged suggests that they were planned in anticipation of the announcement. In many quarters, however, the choice was received with consternation, as it was believed that the name of Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko Inde did not even feature in the list of three submitted to the presidency by the Presidential Task Force on the Reform of the Nigerian Customs. One of the terms of reference of the task force was to recommend to the President the names of those to be appointed the Comptroller General of the Customs.
In his reaction to this and other appointments recently made by President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, Col (rtd) Abubakar Dangiwa Umar had accused the President of enthroning nepotism and cronyism. In the specific choice of Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko Inde, he argued that it was made in disregard of seniority; Alhaji Inde was an Assistant Comptroller General before his elevation to the highest post in the Nigerian Customs. Analysis of developments in the Customs in the last few months makes it difficult to avoid Col Umar’s conclusions. Dismissing Col Umar’s criticism because, as some have argued, this was not the first time a junior officer had been so elevated, is preposterous. This is all the more so, given the fact that President Yar’adua had, from the very beginning, declared the “rule of law” as one of the cardinal principles of his administration. One does not want to believe that the “rule of law” is a cynical, empty slogan. The ultimate import of the rule of law is justice and fair play. These seem to have evaporated when the appointment of the Comptroller General of Customs was made.
At the time Alhaji Inde was promoted to head the Customs there were three Deputy Comptroller Generals – Mr. A. Rabiu, Mr Okeniyi and Mrs. Akoh. Of the three, the first two were promoted to their position in 2004, while the third, Mrs. Akoh, was promoted two years later, in 2006. It is not correct therefore, as claimed by the widows of Benue who demonstrated in Mrs. Akoh's support in Makurdi, that she was the most senior. However, all the Deputy Comptroller Generals were retired few hours after the announcement of Alhaji Inde. But none of the three had reached the mandatory retirement age. Indeed, 2011 would have been the earliest anyone of them would have retired. This partly explains the dismay in some quarters, even in the Customs.
Before the elevation of Alhaji Inde to the top post, there were 14 Assistant Comptroller Generals. Broadly speaking, they fall into three categories, according when they were promoted and the circumstances of their promotion. There was ACG Saidu Iro Dabai, who was promoted from Comptroller to Assistant Comptroller General in 2004. He is the only one in this category. There were nine others who were promoted to ACG in 2008: ACG Buba J, ACG Adegoke (Mrs.), ACG Ayanlaja O, ACG Gotip, ACG Gwary, ACG Othman, ACG Argungu, ACG Saka Y, and ACG Ihianacho. They constitute the second category.
The third category is made up of those who skipped the rank of Deputy Comptroller and were promoted to the rank of Assistant Comptroller General. Indeed, the circumstances of their promotion were a subject of investigation by both the presidency and the Senate Committee on Finance. Although the Senate Finance Committee aborted its own investigation for undisclosed reasons, the presidency’s had gone ahead, but for some inexplicable reason the findings have not been disclosed. Those in this category were: ACG Atteh, ACG Ofem, ACG Makarfi and ACG Dikko. It is therefore clear from the above that the most senior in the ACG rank, Sa’idu Iro Dabai, was skipped in the appointment of the new CGC again for inexplicable reasons. This cannot but raise questions.
The Alhaji Inde appointment has also deviated from the norm established by the President since he assumed office. When Ahmed Kojoli was leaving office, he was instructed to handover to the most senior Deputy Comptroller of Customs, who was DCG Nwadialo and who became the boss. What has changed since then to warrant the blatant deviation this time around?
Experience has shown that appointment of junior officers above their superiors to head state organizations or agencies, especially when there are no extraordinary justifications for doing so, have serious implications for the smooth running of those state entities. It not only creates instability but also induces insecurity. This is all the more so because, as we have seen in Nigeria, it had often led to the destruction of the career of many good officers, to the detriment of the country. When for example, CGC Buba Gyang, now Gbong Gwon Jos, was elevated to the post of Comptroller General of Customs from a lower rank of ACG, all his seniors, together with no less than 42 Comptrollers, were retired.
When Ahmed Kojoli, who had only seven months left in service, was similarly elevated from the position of Assistant Comptroller General to Comptroller General of Customs, the careers of all his senior colleagues were destroyed. They were all retired. But he is now facing criminal charges.
Apart from exposing, once again, the dangerous inconsistencies of the Yar’adua presidency, what the Alhaji Inde’s appointment has succeeded in doing, just like the recent, sinister, decision on federal directors and permanent secretaries, is to send the undesirable signal to those in the service that diligence and hard work do not pay. It creates, and sustains, both a deep sense of injustice and a permanent feeling of insecurity which, in the long run, would turn the service on itself.
Abubakar Siddique Mohammed, teaches political science at the Ahmadu Bello University, Samaru, Zaria. He is also the Director, Centre for Democratic Development research and Training, Zaria.
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