The Senate at its plenary session of Wednesday, March 15th, 2017 has demanded that the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) Col. Hamid Ali appear before the Chamber on its next legislative day of Thursday, March 16th, 2017. The resolution of the Senate came as a response to a letter sent by Col. Ali regretting his inability to attend his briefing as scheduled by the Senate owing to a recent bereavement
In the letter, Col Ali explained that the decision on payment of Customs duties by vehicle owners is currently been reviewed and would take into consideration additional input from stakeholders and the public adding that the findings from the discussion would be made available to the Senate. However, regarding the Senate’s insistence that the retired Colonel appear before it wearing the official customs uniform, he advised that the Senate seeks legal advice on the matter as he was currently doing the same. The Comptroller General also promised to avail himself to the Senate whenever needed but on another available date
However, invoking Section 89 (1) (c) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which empowers the Senate or the House of Representatives to summon any person, the legislative chamber unanimously agreed to re-summon Col. Ali.
