“You are not a fool, you die. You are a fool, you die as a fool” Garba Mai Ilimi 26th December, 2017.
Obviously. The disparaging treatment meted out on Hameed Ali, the Custom boss by the Senate through one of its most vicious goon; Senator Dino Melaye, must as a matter of urgency stop henceforth.
The altercation between the upper chamber of the National Assembly and NCS has snowballed into a big ridicule of the Senate by Senators before the very eyes of Nigerians and the International community.
The real issue of contention, of which the Senate is unwilling to specify or come out clean on is as a result of the seizure of the Senate president’s jeep by the Customs service based on import paper falsification and under payment of import duty thus denying the Federal Government its rightful revenue, an utter criminal act.
Subsequently, the action by the Nigerian Custom Service was seen as a serious slight by some of the most mischievous and unpatriotic persons occupying the red chambers in the National Assembly, who are of the belief that business must continue as usual. A very detrimental practice that will never sit well with Hameed Ali predicated on his conviction, antecedents and his overall sense of duty to his fatherland.
The insistence by the Senate that Ali most wear the NCS uniform is just a derogatory move with no sincere importance, but an opportunity to draw an already written conclusion which was unveiled by Senator Dino Melaye on Wednesday, 22nd March,2017. That for not wearing the NCS uniform, Hameed Ali is unfit for public service and that he must also resign.
One pertinent fact remains that some individuals in the Senate are unfit to be Senator as a result of lack of credibility, corruption charges and other sundry reasons, so we thus appeal to them to do the needful by immediately resigning from the Senate.
Now to the person of interest, the goon in chief of the Senate, the antagonist, the hatchet man with a ratchet mouth; Senator Dino Melaye. I had always known right from the time Dino was a member of the House of representatives that something was off about him in a very weird manner; I will never forget the clapping, whistle blowing and thuggish protest against the then Speaker House of reps. (Dimeji Bankole) which eventually earned Dino suspension from the House. Dino’s action then portrayed psyche of a very demented individual possessed by vile demons.
Long ago, Dino should have been forcefully subjected to psychiatric evaluation to analyze the true state of his mental health before being allowed to vie for any position (elected/appointed).
The verbal assault by Dino on the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami was uncalled for, all he (Malami) said was that since a third party had taken the case to court, it will be sub-judicial for the upper chamber to continue to insist that Hameed Ali wear the NCS uniform.
The Minister of Justice is first and foremost a citizen of Nigeria and as a citizen he has the right to advice and voice his opinion on any matter. Irrevocably, Dino cannot alienate this right that is granted by the constitution.
Malami never authorized, directed or suggested to the Senate as to how it should carry out its constitutional mandate, all he did was to raise a valid observation “That there is an originating summons seeking among others declarations, whether the oversight functions of the National Assembly extend to compelling and or giving directive to the first defendant (Hameed Ali) to wear uniform.
And to advice the Senate accordingly “In line with the principles of rule of law, court decisions or, most importantly, the decisions sought have been deeply rooted in the constitutional provisions; I hold the view that this matter is subjudice.
“In view of the above, it is in the interest of justice and rule of law to stay all actions in this case until the constitutional issues raised are resolved by the law courts.”
The Senate through Senator Dino Melaye has turned itself into a laughing stock and a big embarrassment by demanding that Malami and Ali resign from office for being unfit for public service. In conclusion, it is safe to say that the Senate’s onslaught against the Custom boss stems from vendetta for the seizure of the N298 Million Armored Range Rover jeep of the Senate president.
In the same vein, the Senate’s grouse with Abubakar Malami is predicated on fact that he had the guts to advice the Senate to allow the courts resolve the matter.
Basically, these are the real reasons why Dino wants Malami and Ali to resign from office.
Without and iota of doubt, no amount of mendacity, disparagement or blackmail can enervate Abubakar Malami and Hameed Ali from achieving their primary duties of ensuring the actualization of positive change, transparency and zero tolerance to corruption based on the change mantra of the Buhari administration.
Written by Mohammed Awwal Ibrahim.
