THE Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON) has called on the Comptroller-General (CG) of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali, to do a system appraisal within and without the customs operations.
The call was contained in an open letter to Col. Ali, signed by the National President, Frank Ogunojemite.
APFFLON said it was reaching out to NCS because of a mix-up in the system which is driven by parochialism and sycophancy, which hampers effective administrative correspondences and information flow.
Making reference to the 2005 Presidential Committee on Customs operations report, which tried to correct some of the observed ills in customs operation, the association said unfolding events in the customs ports is gradually going back to pre-Nigeria Customs ports and border operations 2005.
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The letter reads: “The code of ethics of the NCS specifically prohibits officers and men of the service from engaging in of clearing or forwarding of imported goods.
“But contrary to that code of ethics, many of them flout this order and other regulations by using fronts and other such arrangements to do so.”
Among other anomalies pointed out by APFFLON are insider trading and preferential treatment, controls and racketeering, non-compliance with rules of engagement, insecurity and safety etc.
As a remedy, the association suggested, among others, that the use of camp boys at the operational base should be discouraged, while also advising customs to embrace an open door policy in all ramifications, and empower Zonal Coordinators and Area Comptrollers by assigning greater responsibilities to them.
The agency should also discourage insider training to achieve licensing regulations and advancement.
“If there must be an urgent need for task force to stem or stabilise operational misgivings, it should be structured as an ad hoc interventionist, or corrective measures that will act within a short time then disbanded afterwards”. [PUNCH]
