ABUJA: The coalition of Nigerian youths, at the weekend, said it had noticed, with dismay, the campaign of calumny, in some quarters, against the Comptroller-General of Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Mr. Abdullahi Dikko Inde, describing it as an attempt to rubbish all the good work Inde had done.
Addressing journalists, in Abuja, the Co-ordinator of the group, Comrade Raymond Obuseh, said: “We have collectively condemn in its entirety the protest sponsored by one Dr. Bashir Maru of a group that called itself Nigerian Initiative for Accountability and Probity aimed at rubbishing the outstanding achievements of Alhaji Inde in the last six years.”
According to the group, Inde had taken the NCS to an unprecedented level, among which was a 100 percent increment and capacity-building programmes extended to all levels of officers and men across and beyond Nigeria, which had boosted their morale and ensured dedication to the duty.
Obuse maintained that Inde, upon assumption of office, embarked on an aggressive infrastructural development, which saw the building of new barracks, rehabilitation and upgrading of new ones, construction of office buildings, printing press, hospitals, schools etc.
He added that “under the period he had delivered a well-equipped regional training academy in Gwagwalada, Abuja. This, in addition to the provision of a jet to ease the Customs operations along our borders making them more secure than ever. Revenue collection has soared, which many acknowledge as the highest, so far, in the history of the Nigeria Customs Service. The NCS has saved the country billions of dollars through various innovations and blockage of loop holes.”
Obuse added that, “The modernisation drive and the E-Customs project has ensured fast clearance of goods and the general customs and exercise procedure has meet up with international standards.
“It is on record that the NCS, under Dikko, has never granted any waiver for individuals or corporate bodies. The allegation made by the Nigerian Initiative for Accountability and Probity that he granted waivers for friends and associates are baseless and unfounded.”
