An office building donated to patch up relations between the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has instead opened a can of worms threatening to eat up jobs and tarnish reputations.
Friday, August 29, 2014 will for long remain memorable in the maritime community. The day, in Festac Town in Lagos, witnessed the presence of men and women who control the clearing and forwarding business.
The event was the opening of the office of the ANLCA, a sprawling edifice that costs N240 million.
The building was allegedly donated by Customs Comptroller General (CG), Abdullahi Dikko, who commissioned it on the day.
The structure is named after him, as a mark of honour for his ensuring “peace” between the NCS and its licensed agents.
However, the gift, termed “PR” (public relations) intended to consolidate his administration’s friendship with the ANLCA is now a cause for worry in the Customs management.
Murmuring is heard in every corner as what was meant to be a secret gift has become public knowledge. Questions being asked include “Whose money was used, the Customs’ or Dikko’s personal money?” “Was the Customs management carried along?
Other groups demand largesse
What unsettles the Customs hierarchy is that other clearing and forwarding associations have raised eyebrows and demanded Dikko build them offices or they will declare war against the Customs.
Among them are the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (CMDLCA), and Save Nigerian Freight Forwarders (SNFF).
NAGAFF is said to have written to the Customs management threatening to move against Dikko if he fails to donate a corporate office to it.
A source in NAGAFF told TheNiche “we can see he has started donating building to agents, he must make it go round; we are waiting for his response. If he doesn’t respond, then we shall know. The ANLCA is not the only association in the industry.”
Chukwu Ositadinma, President of SNFF, a group known for its criticism against corrupt practices in the industry, told TheNiche that the NSFF is investigating the source of the N240 million gift and also wants Abuja to probe it.
“Yes we have heard the news. It is shocking. I and my members are still investigating it and we shall make our opinion public after the investigation.
“If it is true, it is condemnable because that is tax payers’ money. It is our commonwealth which must not be given to a selected few,” he reiterated.
Ositadinma said the SNFF may sue the Customs to compel it to disclose why such a gift was given to only a group of clearing agents.
Members of the CMDLCA are also said to be putting heads together to protest. But their leaders, Lucky Amiwero and Uche Block, could not be contacted.
The Customs top echelon is reportedly divided over the gift, widening the rift over who succeeds Dikko.
However, the man reportedly uses his connections in the Northern oligarchy and the alleged support of First Lady, Patience Jonathan, to weather the storm, making him the longest serving CG since the return of civil rule in 1999. He has served five years.
ANCLA broke
ANLCA President, Olayiwola Shittu, is yet to explain the gift. But some of his members believe that Dikko donated the building to help cement the relationship between the Customs and the ANLCA.
One confirmed that they were not levied to construct the office, asking: “Which CCG has done this kind of thing for agents before?”
The ANLCA, formed almost five decades ago, is reportedly broke.
Shittu’s predecessor, Ernest Elochukwu, on countless occasions lamented that he had to use his personal money to run the association, which he eventually left to join politics.
Long history of fracas
Relations were frosty between the NCS and the ANCLA between 1999 and 2009. Customs officials accused the agents of violating the rules by pocketing part of government funds.
The agents fired back that Customs were corrupt. They flooded the Presidency and Finance Ministry with grave petitions against the agency. This uneasy relationship affected the job of all Customs bosses.
Aliyu Mustapha, who led the Customs between 1999 and 2004, was forced by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to resign in January 2004, having fought the battle of his life with the clearing agents.
Mustapha’s cup became full when in November 2003 he got approval from the Presidency to invade importers’ warehouses, markets, and shops in search of banned items.
Numerous petitions from importers and clearing agents unveiled corrupt practices in the NCS.
Deputy Comptroller General, Tayo Ogungbemile, who succeeded Mustapha as acting CG, never had peace with vested interests in the clearing and forwarding business, from where a delude of petitions exposed damming excesses in the Customs.
The petitions attracted the ire of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), whose then Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, lamented in February 2004 that “70 per cent of goods in Nigeria are smuggled.
“Most houses in Maadi, Niger Republic have been converted into warehouses loaded with merchandise ready to be smuggled into Nigeria. The implication of this to the economy is grave.”
Ogungbemile was booted out. Succeeding Customs CGs, Jacob Gyang and Hamman Ahmed, also did not have an easy ride.
That was until Dikko took charge. He is the only one to find peace with the agents who have praised him at various times.
This has also enabled him to curry favour with the authorities, while the agents go about their “legitimate” business without anyone raising eyebrows.
More skeletons likely
Seen as the most successful customs CG ever, Dikko’s relationship with importers and agents who seek to make maximum profit at any cost baffles even his predecessors.
But the contentious N240 million building which now rattles both the Customs and clearing agents may unravel more secrets.
When TheNiche contacted NCS Public Relations Officer, Joseph Attah, for comment, he said he was attending a function and could not talk at the location.
