The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise, Rt. Hon. Leke Joseph Abejide, has denied allegations that he attempted to influence the appointment of a relative as the next Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
He insisted that the report and recent discussions surrounding the leadership succession in the service have been deliberately misrepresented.
Abejide's response follows a SaharaReporters investigation which raised concerns over an alleged move to elevate Deputy Comptroller H.O. Olorunfemi to the position of Comptroller-General after the expiration of the tenure of the current Customs boss, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi.
The report had cited sources within the Customs Service and government circles who alleged that the proposed appointment would have bypassed more senior officers and triggered the premature retirement of hundreds of personnel, potentially disrupting the service's chain of command and violating provisions of the Nigeria Customs Service Act.
In response to the allegations, Abejide posted a video on his Facebook page, insisting there was no attempt to force any officer into retirement. He maintained that discussions on succession planning were intended to tackle what he described as a longstanding structural problem within the Customs Service.
