Posted by By Francis Ugwoke on
About 7,000 officers and men of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) were weekend promoted in what the management said was aimed at encouraging them for their services to the nation.
About 7,000 officers and men of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) were weekend promoted in what the management said was aimed at encouraging them for their services to the nation.
The promotion of the personnel followed the approval by the Customs Board headed by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on the recommendation of the management last week.
Customs Comptroller-General, Mr. Jacob Buba, had in April, said his management had recommended for the approval of the board the promotion of over 7,000 officers and men.
A source disclosed that about 3,000 senior officers benefitted in the exercise, while the rest were in the junior cadre.
The promotion was made public weekend, a development which led to celebration among officers and men who benefitted from the exercise.
The management of the service was said to have promised that those who did not benefit from the exercise will be considered in the second phase of the exercise.
Few weeks ago, Customs Service announced the dismissal of one of the Assistant Comptroller-Generals, Alhaji Ahmed Atiku, who is currently in court to challenge the action of the organisation.
Atiku is said to have protested his dismissal to the Presidency whose position on the matter is not yet known.
According to the Public Relations Officer of the Customs, Mr. Wale Adeniyi, Atiku was dismissed for official misconduct.
Although Adeniyi did not give details of Atiku's official misconduct, sources close to the Customs told THISDAY that the problem of the Assistant Comptroller-General started when he was alleged to have flouted a standing order by the Comptroller-General, Mr. Jacob Buba, on abolition of task forces at the ports.
Atiku was alleged to have disregarded an order banning the establishment of Task Forces by the Customs, one of the reasons why he was redeployed from his former post as the Lagos Zonal Coordinator to head the Investigation Department in Abuja.
On resuming at Abuja about two months ago, the ACG was said to have been at loggerheads with the Customs boss and few other members of the management team.
However, his dismissal has been described by industry stakeholders as harsh considering his rank in the Service and the fact that he was not known to have been involved in corrupt or fraudulent practices.