President Bola Tinubu has extended Comptroller General of Customs Adewale Adeniyi’s tenure in office by one year.
The 59-year-old Adeniyi, having joined the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) as a cadet officer in 1990, was due to retire in August.
Public service rules specify that civil servants could retire by two ways: either after attaining 60 years of age or spending 35 years in service. For Adeniyi, he qualifies to retire through the second requirement as he would have spent 35 years on the job by August.
READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: ‘A Lot of Anger’ In Customs As Tinubu, CGC Illegally Extend 12 Senior Officers’ Service Years
The president has chosen to have him in office beyond the normal number of service years.
“The Presidency announces that the tenure of the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Mr Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, which is due to expire on August 31, 2025, has been extended by one year,” Bayo Onanuga wrote on Thursday.
The president’s media aide said the extension “will enable Mr Adeniyi to consolidate ongoing reforms and complete critical initiatives of this administration, including: the modernisation of the Nigeria Customs Service; the implementation of the National Single Window Project; and the execution of Nigeria’s obligations under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) protocol”.
He added that Tinubu was confident that the decision would help the border agency “in achieving its strategic mandate of trade facilitation, revenue generation, and border security”.
Adeniyi is not the first or second beneficiary of such presidential favours, despite vehement opposition from some members of the public.
In December, FIJ exclusively reported the secret “extension and retention” of 12 top customs officers loyal to Adeniyi by the president by 12 months. While presenting the concerns of officers whose career growth had been impacted by the officers’ retention, FIJ noted that secret retention potentially signalled the potential extension of Adeniyi’s service years, even though the president had said in his public announcement of Adeniyi as the agency’s head in October 2023 that his tenure would be guided by the “extant provisions of the Public Service Rules (PSR)”.
READ ALSO: ‘We Should Clap for Police for Not Using Their AK47 on Sowore’ — Rep Yusuf Gagdi
Similarly, the president controversially extended the tenure of Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun by four years, relying on the amended version of the Nigeria Police Act, which he got the National Assembly to tinker with to legitimise his decision.
Sustained public antagonism to Egbetokun’s retention forced a response from the police in early September.
“The attention of the Nigeria Police Force has been drawn to various misleading reports and misinterpretations concerning the tenure of the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D, NPM, and wishes to categorically state that what His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, approved for the IGP is not an extension of tenure, but rather the proper application of the law governing the tenure of the office of the IGP,” police spokesperson Olumuyiwa Adejobi stated.
“Contrary to the misinformation being circulated on social media and in the news, an appointment letter in circulation was issued to the IGP shortly after his appointment was confirmed by the Police Council. This letter, dated 3rd November 2023, clearly stated that the President had approved a four-year tenure for the IGP in accordance with the provisions of Section 215(a) and Section 28(c) of the Third Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).”
Had Tinubu not extended his service years, Egbetokun would have bowed out of office when he clocked 60 in September.
While the National Assembly amended the Police Act before Egbetokun’s retention got the green light, it is unclear whether a similar legislative amendment had occurred on the Nigeria Customs Service Act before Adeniyi’s retention. There is no public information about such legislative amendments.
The post Tinubu Extends Customs Chief Adeniyi’s Tenure Beyond Legal Limit appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.