Comptroller-General of Customs Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd) has revealed his mission at the service as handed to him by President Muhammadu Buhari.
They are: to increase revenue generation, restructure Customs and Reform Customs.
A statement of the Public Relations Officer, Mr. Wale Adeniyi, yesterday noted that Ali spoke during his maiden meeting with the management of the service in Abuja.
Col. Ali (retd.), who was appointed Comptroller-General of Customs on August 27 by President Buhari, only just resumed duty on Thursday and immediately settled down to business.
The statement quoted him as telling the senior officers: “The mandate he (Buhari) has given me are three basic things: go to Customs, reform Customs, restructure Customs and increase the revenue generation. Simple. I don’t think that is ambiguous, I don’t think that is cumbersome. It is precise and I believe that is what all of you are here to do”.
He urged the management to work with him to deliver on the mandate.
Ali pleaded with the top-level management staff not to see him as a stranger in the Customs family, noting that his mission is to strengthen the Service.
He, therefore, solicited the loyalty of all officers and men in his mission for a better service.
The Deputy Comptroller General covering duties for CGC, John Atte, while handing over, gave Col. Ali (retd.) a brief history of the Service and assured him of unquestionable loyalty of officers and men to work towards suppression of smuggling and increased revenue collection, facilitation among others, in the interest of the nation.
Col. Ali, born on January 15 1955 in Dass Local Government of Bauchi State, had a distinguished career in the Nigerian Army during which he served as Military Administrator (MILAD) Kaduna State between 1996-1998 and Colonel Training TRADOC, Minna in 1998.
His previous appointments include General Staff Officer II, Military Police Headquarters, 1981-1982, General Staff Officer II, 1 Mechanised Div, Kaduna, 1992, and Commander, Special Investigation Bureau, Apapa, Lagos 1994-1996.
