The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) on Friday said President Muhammadu Buhari has failed to keep the promises he made to Nigerians in 2015.
Speaking at the unveiling of an ultra-modern Buhari Support Organisation office complex in Jabi, Abuja, Ali said the change agenda of the administration has derailed from its core values because the wrong people have infiltrated the government.
The customs boss said the challenge ahead of 2019 elections was bigger than that of 2015.
He said the event was designed to rekindle “what we started in 2015 and what we used as a vehicle to fight in the trenches, out of the trenches, along routes and in so many different terrains to see to the success of vision and mission.”
Ali recalled that in the pursuit of the vision, so many lost their jobs and businesses in a bid to bring the change required for a better Nigeria. He noted that some started the journey (with Buhari) in 2003, others in 2007, 2011 and others joined in 2015.
“Let me say here without fear of being contradicted that I think halfway through the journey, we are losing our core values. We are losing our vision and mission and I think that the idea of our being here today is to look critically at what we need to do to get back on track.
“There is no doubt that we have derailed because we are not doing what we say we want to do. Why is it so? We need to find an answer to that. If we do find an answer; then, what should we do to get us all back on track? We owe this great nation and the 180 million Nigerians the duty to give good governance.
“Good governance is what they voted for and good governance is what they expect to get and they deserve that. We, therefore, as BSO, have a great task ahead of us. My dear comrades, the battle and the job start now.
“We have won one battle by taking over power. But what we make of this power is essential to us and to humanity. Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to tell my colleagues here that we have to change the narrative. When we were out there working and jumping on the streets and reaching every corner, we were shouting change, change for a better Nigeria.
“Now, the keyword is good governance for Nigerians. We must agree that we cannot finish our four years without delivering and leaving something to be remembered for in this country for a long time to come. We have no problem with our President because he is on course,” Ali said.
In an apparent agreement with the Wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, Ali added that, “We have been infused by people who were not part of this journey and these people are the ones that call the shots today. That is why we are derailing.”
Ali said “We are the ones that will be asked to account for what happened. Are we willing to face Nigerians and tell them that we have failed? I think this is the time for us to come together, create a system that is very robust enough to fight back and take back government in our hands and ensure that we deliver.
“I will, therefore, ask my colleagues of the BSO to go back to the study room. This is a commission, but it is also the beginning of the fight for good governance. We must get back to the trenches, draw our own battle plan and battle line. I enjoin you to have the same commitment we had in 2015; I implore you to bear with us and commit yourself to a better future for Nigeria.
“We will be calling on you from now on and we will be working day and night. We must do so because we want to save our name at the end of the day and the name of the President for what he is doing.”
Ali was addressing a gathering of some of the President’s loyalists including the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, his counterparts from Bauchi and Plateau states, Mohammed Abubakar and Simon Lalong respectively.
Ali explained that there was the need to ensure that those who fight in a battle are those who should first enjoy the “loot” if a system must change.
He said, “In the course of the jihad of the Prophet Mohammad, anytime they went out for a battle, they came back with loot, but this loot, as far as my own research told me, was not distributed to everybody, but to those who took the sword and faced the enemies.
“Today, with all sense of responsibility, I want to say that we have 50 per cent of (defectors from the) PDP in our government. How can we move forward with this load? How can we achieve our target with this load? It is a spoilt system and so when you come in, you shake off everybody and bring in your own. That is what democracy is all about.
“Today, we have members of the PDP calling the shots. That is what we will begin to fight for; we will fight for our rightful position, our vision and our mission for this government. It is essential because we are a political organisation.”
