Trouble Looms as Nigeria Customs Boss Allegedly Violates President Buhari's Directive...Read Details

Comptoller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, Hamid Ali, addressing the agency's personnel

 

In a clear violation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive banning public officials from flying first class, a well known ally of the president, Hamid Ali, who is the Comptroller General of Nigerian Customs, was spotted on Tuesday flying first class on British Airways flight from London to Abuja.

 

Recall that President Buhari had in April caused the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, to issue a circular to all government agencies barring top officials from travelling first class, a measure to cut the high cost of travelling by public officials.

 

According to an exclusive report on Premium Times, the Britisg Aairways flight BA83 which took off from Gate 43 of Heathrow Terminal 5, London, on Tuesday, nearly an hour behind its scheduled 10.43pm departure time, arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Wednesday morning at about 5:00a.m, with Ali on board.

 

Several passengers on the flight told disclosed that they saw Ali seated in the First Class compartment of the aircraft during the flight.

 

“It was a major talking point among some passengers whether the policy (barring public officials from flying first class) is being implemented with exceptions or whether it is meant for the shelves,” one passenger on the flight told the newspaper.

 

There were notable Nigerians on board and a number of them confirmed that the customs comptroller-general was in the first class cabin of the aircraft during the flight.

 

A first class ticket to and from London costs $11,423.23 (about N3.4million).

 

As at the time of publishing this report, the reasons for Ali’s travel to London remained unknown as no one knew if his visit to UK was for official or private purposes, but customs insiders, disclosed to PM that the trip was official.

 

Wale Adeniyi, the customs spokesperson on Thursday, confirmed Ali was on the BA flight, but that he travelled on a business class ticket, but sources, some of whom travelled business class, said Adeniyi’s claim was inaccurate.

 

“That is not true,” one passenger said. “I was on business class, and I was awake most of the flight. So if you line up those on business class during that flight, I can identify them.”