Officers of the Nigeria Customs Service have been ordered to make a ‘full disclosure of their assets’ within the next two weeks.
The assets declaration directive is contained in a circular, signed by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hammed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd) and addressed to all Deputy Comptrollers-General, Zonal Coordinators and Customs Area Controllers.
According to the circular, the request for assests declaration is part of the new measure put in place to push transparency and compliance with the rule of law.
“The directive on assets declaration is in compliance with ‘The Bank Employees Declaration of Assets Act Cap B1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004’. Though the Act provides for asset declaration by all Bank employees, it also empowers the President to extend its application to other categories of persons”.
Section 12 (1) states that “The provision of this Act shall apply to the Comptroller-General, Deputy Comptroller-General, Assistant Comptroller-General, Chief Collector, Principal Collector and other Officer, Staff or employee of the Nigeria Customs Service as the apply to a Chief Executive or an employee of a Bank”.
The Comptroller-General further stated that many Customs officers have failed to comply with the provisions of the Act over the years while also noting that the 14-day ultimatum for compliance with the directive will be strictly enforced.
