APC has derailed – Customs CG

The Comptroller General (CG) of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Colonel Hameed Ali (rtd), on Friday, said the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) has derailed through the gradual loss of its core values, vision and mission, adding that the party was no longer doing what it promised to do.

The NCS boss stated this at an event organised by the Buhari Support Organisation (BSO) in Abuja, adding that the party succeeded in taking power, has not been able to deliver most of the promises it made to the electorate.

His words: “We have won one battle by taking over power. But what we make of this power is very essential to us and to humanity. 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. But I must confess here that we have been infused by people who were not part of this journey and these people are the ones that call the shot today. That is why we are derailing. If we had the right people who had the vision and have been there in and out, I believe that we will not be going the way we are going today.”
“It is my belief that those of us who have been in the trenches all these years to get good governance will surely be sleeping with belly ache every day, especially in the recent past. Every day, when you wake up, there is a story that makes you shiver. We cannot, as a people who have fought and committed everything we had to bring this government to being sit back and allow things to happen the way they are happening. “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.”

Ali also said APC-led Federal Government was finding it difficult to move forward and achieve its targets because it has 50 percent of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in its government.

“Today, with all sense of responsibility, I want to say that we have 50 percent of 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 PDP calling the shots. That is what we will begin to fight for, we will fight for our right position, our vision and our mission for this government,” Ali said.

The Customs CG, who lamented that those who fought for the installation of the government of change were yet to be fully appreciated, said the BSO must get back to the trenches and champion the new battle for good governance.

He said: “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 enjoined you that the same commitment we had in 2015, I employ 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 and the name of the President for what he is doing. Our President is on course and all we need is to ensure that we support him.”

“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.”

Dignitaries that attended the event included Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was represented at the occasion by the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammed Musa Bello; Ministers of Defence, Niger Delta, Trade (State), Health (State), governors of Bauchi, Kogi and Plateau States, Senators Magmus Abe and Senator Olorunnibe Mamora, among other APC bigwigs.