The Presidency Wednesday night dissociated itself from the face-off between the Senate and the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hammed Ali (rtd), saying that the issue does not concern the Presidency. Recall that the Senate on Wednesday declared Ali unfit to occupy the office of CG Customs and subsequently called for his sack.
The Customs CG had declined to appear before the Senate which mandated him to dress in full Customs regalia while coming. In a letter he later wrote to the Senate, Ali said that the matter was now in court and as such, won’t appear before the federal lawmakers. He had on Tuesday also told State House Correspondents that he wouldn’t honor the summons due to the legal suit on the matter. He said: “The issue is in court already. Somebody has sued us. It is subjudiced.
I have gotten my writ of summons and they said status quo should remain ante which means nothing you move until the court makes a pronouncement. “A private individual sued all of us, he wants an interpretation of the section that is in contention. “I don’t want to talk so that I am not held in contempt of court”.
When contacted to react on the senate’s resolution, the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina said the matter was not a presidency concern. “It is not a presidency matter,” he simply said.
(Vanguard )
