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Tag: CG

  • Just in: Tinubu appoints new CG for Correctional Service

    Just in: Tinubu appoints new CG for Correctional Service

    President Bola Tinubu has appointed Nwakuche Ndidi as the Acting Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service.

    His appointment follows the expiration of the tenure of the current CG, Haliru Nababa.

    Nababa was appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari on February 18, 2021.

    In a statement on Friday, the Secretary of the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire, and Immigration Board, Ja’afaru Ahmed, said Ndidi’s appointment takes effect from December 15, 2024.

    Ahmed stated, “The President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has graciously approved the appointment of Nwakuche Sylvester Ndidi as Acting Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service following the expiration of the tenure of Haliru Nababa. His appointment takes effect from December 15, 2024.

  • Customs CG approves appointment of 6 management staff

    Customs CG approves appointment of 6 management staff

    The Comptroller General(CG) of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adewale Adeniyi, has approved the appointment of two management staff and the redeployment of four others within the service.

    The National Public Relations Officer of the service, Chief Superintendent of Customs Abdullahi Maiwada, announced this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

    Adeniyi said that the appointments of the Deputy Comptrollers General (DCG) and Assistant Comptrollers General (ACG) were part of efforts to reinvigorate the service for efficient service delivery and in response to recent retirements.

    He said that the appointment of the two management staff, who were in acting capacity, and the deployment of the four others were aimed at fortifying strategic operations and optimising service delivery across various departments.

    “The newly appointed management members are poised to steer the NCS towards enhanced efficiency and effectiveness.

    “Their diverse expertise and proven track records are expected to inject fresh momentum into critical areas such as revenue generation, anti-smuggling, and trade facilitation, “ he said.

    The customs boss commended the appointees for their good track record of duty and urged them to embrace their new roles with renewed commitment.

    He emphasised the pivotal role of the NCS in advancing national interests and urged the appointees to uphold the highest standards of integrity, professionalism, and service delivery.

    He reiterated the service commitment to safeguarding the nation’s economic interests, fostering international trade, and ensuring compliance with regulatory frameworks.

    The CG assured that the strategic reinforcement of the service leadership was aimed at navigating evolving challenges and taking advantage of opportunities for growth and development.

    The new appointees include: J.P. Ajoku, DCG Strategic Research and Policy; B.M. Jibo, Ag. DCG Excise, Free Trade Zone and Industrial Incentives; I.Q. Ogbudu, ACG Excise, Free Trade Zone, and Industrial Incentives.

    Others are I.O. Babalola, ACG/Zonal Coordinator Zone ‘B’; H.J. Swomen, ACG/Zonal Coordinator Zone ‘A’ and F.A. Abdulazeez, Ag. ACG/Zonal Coordinator Zone ‘D’.

  • NIS to open more passport service points in UK, USA, others – CG

    NIS to open more passport service points in UK, USA, others – CG

    The Comptroller General, Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Mrs Caroline Adepoju, has said that the service would open more passport service points to meet the needs of Nigerians in the Diaspora.

    Adepoju said in an interview with NAN on Friday in Abuja that efforts were also on to ease passport processing in the country.

    “I have it on good authority that in UK, we have over four million Nigerians and this number increases everyday because of the “Japa syndrome”; families that relocated, students, and those in search of greener pastures and jobs.

    “So all hands are on deck to ensure that we create more service points in the UK, Canada and in the USA.

    ”We listen to the plight of our nationals, we hear their cries and we are working hard and by the grace of God, we will get there,” she said.

    Adepoju said that the service had opened three additional passport processing centres in Nigeria located at Ikorodu, Offa and Ile-Oluji to ease demands on passport centres in Lagos, Kwara and Ondo states.

    “More are coming, we are going to Ibadan, Badagry, we will look at everywhere we have high volume of applications.

    “I want Nigerians to continue to support me, understand and be aware that they owe us the duty of ensuring that they apply for their passports when it is about six months before the expiry date, that will ease the pressure on them and the system.

    ”And Nigerians should stop patronising touts. Nigerians can apply for International Passport online and can make payment and book appointment online.

    “Very soon, we are looking at making everything digital so that there would be minimal human interference,” the NIS CG said.

    She also appealed to those in diaspora whose passports were tied to their stay and status abroad, to always be conscious of the need to renew their passports on time.

    Adepoju attributed delays being experienced in passport issuance to technical issues like non alignment of applicant’s data with their National Identity Number (NIN), which must be rectified by the National Identification Management Commission (NIMC).

    “Usually when such a thing happen, such passport may have technical issues like non alignment of the NIN with the data supplied for the passport application.

    “Fortunately, NIMC are in the same ministry as us and we have engaged with them and we are having a robust relationship, so the issue of NIN being a problem will soon become a thing of the past.

    ”But that being said, for people who are experiencing such hardship, we have mechanisms in place where complaints and feedback can reach us through our website, and we will do everything we can to resolve the issues,” she said.

    Adepoju said the NIS has cleared thousands of pending passport applications and urged those who applied to come forward and collect their passports.

    “There are thousands of uncollected passports. About a few months ago, I published the names of all applicants and the passports ready in Nigeria.

    “I was in London two weeks ago and I was shocked at the number of passports already produced, waiting for collection,” the NIS boss added.

  • Shettima decorates new Ag Customs CG, Adeniyi

    Shettima decorates new Ag Customs CG, Adeniyi

    Vice President Kashim Shettima on Monday decorated the newly appointed acting  Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adewale Adeniyi, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Olusola Abiola, Director Information, Office of the Vice President, in a statement in Abuja, said the ceremony was witnessed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, at the Presidential Villa.

    The vice president described the appointment of  Adeniyi by President Bola Tinubu as morale booster for officers in the service.

    “Congratulations for bringing professionalism back to the Nigerian Customs Service.

    ” Now, every Customs officer can aspire to occupy the pinnacle of his or her profession.

    “I wish you well, on behalf of the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, Congratulations, once again,” Shettima said.

    Speaking with State House correspondents shortly after the decoration  Adeniyi expressed gratitude to President Tinubu for appointing a serving officer as the head of the agency.

    He assured the president and Nigerians of a more effective and innovation driven NCS.

    “In the last eight years, the NCS  has gone through a period of transition;  in some areas, we recorded progress – we made remarkable progress in e-Customs.

    “We made a lot of breakthroughs in capacity building; but the NCS can still live to its full potentials when we bring in more innovation to drive Customs operations.

    “These are the kind of things we are looking at in the years ahead; we are going to be professional in our approach; there are a number of key stakeholders that we are going to be working with.

    “It is a very onerous task but we are going to be working alongside other stakeholders and partners that we have identified.

    “We intend to come up with innovations that will carry along all partners and stakeholders,”  he said.

    Adeniyi added that the service would leverage technology and innovation to break new grounds in its operations.

  • Aremu retires as Customs ACG, Okun takes over Zone A

    Aremu retires as Customs ACG, Okun takes over Zone A

    Following the retirement of Zonal Coordinator Zone ‘A’ Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) Adeyanju Aremu, a new Zonal Coordinator ACG Festus Okun, has assumed duty as the Coordinator Zone ‘A’.

    This was revealed in a statement made available to newsmen in Lagos on Thursday.

    At a brief ceremony in her office, the retiring ACG thanked the Customs Management, led by retired Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali for the confidence reposed in her with her posting as Zonal Coordinator up till the time of her retirement.

    The outgoing coordinator described Zone ‘A’ as the bedrock and microcosm of the Nigeria Customs Service and charged officers in the zone to work assiduously towards supporting the new Zonal Coordinator to succeed.

    She highlighted the giant strides of the zone in the areas of revenue and anti-smuggling and expressed confidence in the capacity and competence of the new zonal coordinator to take the zone to the next level.

    While thanking the principal officers in the zone, she urged them to ensure that the new zonal coordinator was given all necessary support.

    On his part, Okun thanked his predecessor for the enviable standard which Zone ‘A’ had attained under her regime and promised to bring his wealth of experience to bear in setting new standard as a way of continuity.

    He wished the retiring ACG well in her future endeavours.

    Okun was born in Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State, Nigeria.

    He obtained a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) degree in Sociology from Ondo State University and also obtained Masters in Public Administration from University of Lagos.

    The Technocrat joined the Nigeria Customs Service in 1989.

    He has served in various Customs Commands in different capacities such as trained Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) Technical Supervisor, Area Project Manager in Lilypond, and Area Project Manager Tincan Island others.

  • Appointment into Immigration not for rich kids only – CG

    Appointment into Immigration not for rich kids only – CG

    The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service ( NIS), Mr Muhammad Babandede, has said that appointment into the Service is neither for sale nor for the children of the rich.

    Babandede said on Saturday in Yola that the appointment was basically for those that are fit and qualified.

    The Immigration Boss was in Adamawa on a two-day official visit, during which he inaugurated a Sick Bay Centre and a Forward Operation Base (FOB) at Gurin and Belel in Fufore and Maiha Local Government Areas respectively.

    He said that when he assumed office in 2016, he ensured that no vacant position was sold to the children of the rich, adding that the poor should be treated equal with the rich without any discrimination.

    He said that recently, 370,000 people applied for the 4,900 available vacant positions from across the country for the 2020/2021 recruitment.

    “ After an intensive screening, we invited 70,000 applicants for examination and 50,000 appeared and sat for the examination.

    “We shortlisted 6,000 candidates for final physical screening and only those that are fit and qualified will be recruited as officers of the Service in the next two weeks.

    “We will make sure we do justice and the appointments will be shared equally among all the 774 local government areas of the country,’’ Babandede said.

    He said that the children of the poor have the right to apply for the job alongside the so-called children of the rich.

    He recalled that in 1985, he got recruited into the Service without knowing anybody or any top government official.

    According to him, we will make sure we restore the lost glory of the Service for the betterment of our future generation.

    In his remark, Alhaji Idi Amin, the Chairman of Maiha Local Government Area, appreciated the Federal Government for establishing the base.

    Amin said that the local government got the support of both the Federal and the state government to organise a meeting with the border communities between Nigeria and Cameroon .

    He said that during the meeting, a significant security issue bordering, especially, on border banditry was discussed and the communities agreed to work together to end criminal activities in their respective communities.

  • Border closure: Customs now rakes in N6b daily – CG

    Nigeria now rakes in between N5 billion and N6 billion daily from imports since the closure of its land borders with neighbouring countries.

    Prior to the closure in August 2019, daily duty collections hovered between N4 billion and N5 billon, said the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) in Lagos on Tuesday.

    The NCS Comptroller-General Col. Hammed Ali (rtd.) attributed the rise to increased activities at the nation’s seaports.

    ”The NCS daily collection before the border closure ranged between N4 to N5 billion but now, the NCS collects N5billion to N6 billion daily as a result of the rise in activities at the nation’s sea ports,” Ali said on Tuesday at a forum on the “impact of land border closure on the Nigerian economy.”

    The forum was organized by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), and the support of Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) in Lagos.

    The Customs boss, who was represented by the ACG/Zonal Co-ordinator, Zone A, KayCee Ekekezie, also said the border closure had led to a 30 per cent drop in fuel hitherto supplied by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for local consumption.

    He added that the sums being realized from the ports would help the Federal Government provide more infrastructures and add fillip to critical sectors of the economy.

    His words: “This (money) will be used to build more infrastructure and develop critical sectors of the nation’s economy. The border drill has also curbed the diversion of petroleum products from Nigeria to our neighboring countries. NNPC records show a 30 per cent drop in fuel consumption, which means that we have been subsidizing fuel for neighboring countries.”

    Ali also stated that before the border closure, NCS had engaged the customs of neighboring countries severally, drawing their attention to the need to comply with ECOWAS protocols on transit of goods and persons.

    He said: “The protocol demands that when a transit container berths at a seaport, the receiving country is mandated to escort same without tampering with the seal to the border of the destination country.

    ”Unfortunately, experience has shown that our neighbours do not comply with the protocol, rather they break the seals of containers on transit to Nigeria at their ports and transload the goods in open trucks which belongs to their country. The trucks will in turn make entry into Nigeria and trans load same onto Nigerian trucks.”

    The President of LCCI, Mrs Toki Mabogunje, said the border closure has had positive and negative implications for the economy.

    “We have seen appreciable increase in domestic rice and poultry products production and decrease in fuel smuggling to neighboring countries. The directive paid off for the NCS as revenue generated by the agency increased to N1.34 trillion in 2019 from N1.2 trillion in 2019” she said.

    On the flip side, she said, the closure has triggered inflationary pressures through rising food prices.She added that food inflation continues to uptrend, hitting a record 14.7 per cent in December 2019, the highest in 20 months.

    She said the policy had also led to unplanned losses for manufacturers, especially those who export their products by road.

    The Advisor, Borderless Alliance, Mr. Caleb Omoyiola, said the policy had resulted in increased internally generated revenue, rise in consumption of local products and reduction in smuggling.

    On the negative side, according to him, is a breach of ECOWAS protocols/rules of integration and free movement of persons, goods and transport within the region.

    Meanwhile, the Comptroller-General, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Mr Muhammad Babandede, has said that only President Muhammadu Buhari could determine when the borders would reopen.

    Babandede spoke at a news conference on NIS infrastructural projects validation and execution nationwide on in Abuja yesterday.

    He said: “The borders are partially closed and this is in line with the ECOWAS rules where you must have valid travel documents.

    “You must enter through legal routes and with valid documents and not illegally.”

    Babandede emphasised that the visa on arrival policy was not at variance with the border drills, saying that the increase in the number of visas from six to 79 was to enable appropriate endorsement based on request.

    He said that it was also to cover wide range of professions, skills, and areas of expertise and a platform for reciprocating in line with diplomatic practices globally.

    “The visa is not free, payment is done online. Biometric capture is carried out at the point of issuance and due diligence is observed in a manner that will not compromise national security and in line with International best practices,” he added.

  • Senate summons CG Prisons over imprisonment of under-age

    Senate summons CG Prisons over imprisonment of under-age

    The Senate on Wednesday summoned the Controller-General, Prisons, Mr Ahmed Ja’afaru, to appear before its Committee on Interior, to explain why under-age offenders and infants should be confined with adults in the nation’s prisons.

    The upper chamber also urged various security agencies involved in the arrest and detention of juveniles to ensure that they were not incarcerated beyond 48 hours.

    These resolutions were sequel to a motion on “Illegal Confinement of Under-age Offenders/Infants in the Same Prison with Adult Prisoners” brought by Sen. Victor Umeh (APGA-Anambra) at plenary.

    Umeh noted that he was traumatised by the gory pictures of under-age children languishing in prison as contained on pages 13 to 15 of the Nation Newspaper of Saturday, March 31.

    According to him the report was captioned “Kids Behind Bars: World of Under-age Languishing in Prison”.

    The lawmaker alleged police prosecutors encouraged under-age offenders to inflate their ages during arraignment in courts, assuring them that such practice would lead to their release.

    He expressed concern that the repercussion of keeping infants in prison with their mothers was enormous as it would deny them proper upbringing.

    The lawmaker, therefore, advocated that separating under-age offenders and the innocent infants from regular prisons as prescribed by law, would go a long way in protecting their mental health and development.

    The prayers of the motion were unanimously adopted by the lawmakers after a voice vote by Senate President Bukola Saraki.

  • Saraki tasks Immigration CG on availability of Passport booklets

    Saraki tasks Immigration CG on availability of Passport booklets

    President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on Monday, urged the authorities of the Nigeria Immigration Service to work to ensure the availability of the international passport in view of the hardships often encountered by Nigerians who daily apply for the document.

    Saraki who gave the charge while commissioning a new passport office at the National Assembly described as worrisome a situation where Nigerians who apply for international passports have to wait for a long time before the passports are delivered to them.

    The President of the Senate, according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu, however, lauded the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Muhammad Babandede, for the “good initiative” of locating a passport office at the National Assembly.

    Saraki noted that the establishment of the passport office at the National Assembly “will help to further strengthen the relationship between the legislative arm of government and the executive.”

    “Be that as it may, I believe that what is important to us as we get to understand their challenges is the concern we have as representatives of the people over the unavailability of passports where Nigerians have to wait a long time for passports to be delivered to them and the efficiency of it too,” he added.

    “I hope that the Comptroller General of Immigration will work to see how we can improve on this so that Nigerians can have their passports as at when due,” Saraki said. “I have traveled to a few countries and one of the complaints we get is the issue of unavailability of passport booklets.”

    He commended the CG of of NIS for the initiative and would continue to support the agency to improve on its services and ensuring that adequate passports are available for Nigerians who need them.

    “We will continue to support you to see what we can do in improving your efficiency and making the passport booklets readily available to Nigerians as at when they need passport renewal,” Saraki said.

    On his part, the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Muhammad Babandede, thanked the President of the Senate for commissioning the centre, an initiative he said is meant to further strengthen the good relations between the executive and the legislative arms of government.

    “Now that the Senate President has commissioned this Passport Office, it will now be easier for members of the National Assembly to get their passports issued or renewed. They no longer need to come to our office along the Abuja Airport Road for that,” Babandede said.

  • Do more to halt to halt illegal migration, Tambuwal urges Immigration CG

    Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has urged the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to do more to halt illegal migration of young and able-bodied Nigerians who undertake dangerous trips across the Sahara and Mediterranean Sea in bids to make it to Europe.

    The Governor also urged the service to increase vigilance around border areas to check influx of illegal migrants into the country especially through Sokoto and neighbouring states.

    Tambuwal spoke when he granted audience to the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Muhammad Baban Dede, at the Sokoto Government House.

    “Let me first of all commend you and your men for the good job you are doing especially in Sokoto and neighbouring states of Zamfara and Kebbi. Reports reaching us indicate that vast majority of your officers are carrying out their duties in professional manner.

    “Now that you are here, I want to appeal to the Service to streamline the number of multiple checkpoints mounted on various roads within the border areas in the state.

    “Even though we are aware that such checkpoints were in put place to control influx of illegal migrants into the country, local road users have complained of harassment by your men at such checkpoints. Please look into these complaints and help in addressing them,” he added.

    Tambuwal said the state government will support the community border patrols introduced by the Service, adding that the initiative would go along way in addressing security challenges in the country.

    In his remarks, the CG said they were in Sokoto to register their appreciation to the Governor for allocating 40 hectares of land to the Sokoto state command of NIS, as well as the Immigration Staff College situated in Sokoto.

    He said the Service under his command has introduced various initiatives aimed at improving the security of all Nigerians.