The House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions has summoned the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, to appear before it next Tuesday regarding allegations that some top officials have refused to retire after reaching their due dates. The petition, filed by Obasi-Pherson Help Foundation, claims that several Assistant Comptrollers and Comptrollers have remained in service unlawfully.
Chairman of the Committee, Mike Etaba, emphasized that the public deserves transparency, stating that the CG must clarify the situation. He stressed that government agencies must function effectively, and older officers must retire as expected to create opportunities for younger Nigerians.
In a separate case, the Committee has warned that it may order the arrest of the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) if she fails to appear to address allegations of breaching a license agreement with Truid Limited. The company claims it developed and deployed a tokenization system for NIMC without upfront costs, expecting to recover its investment through a shared revenue model over ten years. However, it alleges that the new NIMC DG has attempted to disrupt the agreement.
Etaba criticized the DG’s repeated absence from hearings, warning that if she fails to attend the next session, the Committee will instruct the Inspector-General of Police to compel her appearance.
Reacting to the submissions of the counsel of both the petitioners and the respondents, Chairman of the Committee, Mike Etaba frowned on the continuous absence of the NIMC Director-General despite several invitations.
He said: “If she fails to show up at the next hearing of this case, we’ll have no option than to ask the Inspector-General of Police to bring her.
“How can an official of government treat constituted authority with such levity? We can no longer condone such attitude.”
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