The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Alhaji Dikko Inde Abdullahi, has denied that he met with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar at an undisclosed hotel in Lagos penultimate week, as a number of publications reported.
In a statement issued and signed by his media aide, Mr Joseph Chidi, the Customs boss said that it was important to put the fact straight, declaring that he never met with the former Vice President, but was in Lagos on “a working visit” to assess the readiness of the NCS to fully take over the implementation of the destination inspection (DI) scheme from service providers by December this year.
In a statement issued and signed by his media aide, Mr Joseph Chidi, the Customs boss said that it was important to put the fact straight, declaring that he never met with the former Vice President, but was in Lagos on “a working visit” to assess the readiness of the NCS to fully take over the implementation of the destination inspection (DI) scheme from service providers by December this year.
The statement noted that due to the importance of the DI scheme “the CG has to personally supervise the sensitisation seminar for stakeholders on the newly launched Nigeria Trade Hub portal and the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) and how the package can enhance Customs operations and facilitate trade better than the Risk Assessment Report (RAR).”
The statement further stated that whatever was reported in the media about the Comptroller-General of Customs meeting with the former Vice President was just a figment of the writer’s imagination, adding that the Customs boss wished to inform the general public to ignore the malicious report “seeking to cast a slur on his person and his reforms in the NCS.”
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