Stagnated customs officers demand justice, files pre-action petition

Customs officers employed between 1989 and 1994, who described themselves as “segregated customs officers”, have cried out to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the acting Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) about what they call “discriminatory promotional exercise” in the service.

In a pre-action notice by their counsel, Chief Chukwuma Ekomaru SAN, the “segregated customs officers” have been at a standstill, without any promotion, while the newly promoted ones have enjoyed accelerated promotions.

A document from their lawyer read: “We humbly request to consider redressing the injustice meted out to older officers’ sequel to directives communicated vide the letter NCSB/ABJ/AP&D/94/S.I/VOLV/19 dated 29th March 2022. This is connected with the implemented discriminatory special promotions given with backdated notional effects to newer officers recruited as graduates starting from 2009.  These special promotions were reportedly approved by the Nigeria Customs Service Board (NCSB) consequent to management’s presentation of the recommendations of its Generation Gap Committee”.

Abdullahi Aliyu Maiwada as the National Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Customs Service

They also alleged that the NCS management recently announced its Board’s approval of a proposal to institute yet another special promotion scheme, designated Competency-Based Accelerated Career Progression Plan (CBACP). According to the group, this was made public by NCS’ National Public Relations Officer (PRO), Chief Superintendent Abdullahi Maiwada, through a press release on 19th May 2023.

They alleged that the PRO was quoted to have said that the NCS Board had approved the plan to close the generation gap that could lead to a vacuum in the NCS higher hierarchies, if not addressed.

The group alleged that the NCS is now faced with the problem of coping with the “passive resistance to teamwork created by a class conflict between the segregated customs officers and the favoured customs officers”.

They appealed that they should either be upgraded or laterally converted into the officer corps based on the CBACP, “no matter how subtly communicated for image laundering by the PRO,” adding that their stagnation is “considered unfounded, discriminatory, extra-legal and repugnant to equity, good order and natural justice. For a regimented service like the NCS sudden loss of seniority by an entire generation of older officers to their juniors is absurd”.

NCS had not responded to inquiry by Breezy News as at the time of this report.

The pre-action notice reads:

30^th June, 2023

THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL

NIGERIA CUSTOMS SERVICE

HEADQUARTERS

WUSE ZONE 3

ABUJA

Dear Sir,

RE:   PROTEST AGAINST DISCRIMINATORY SPECIAL PROMOTION SCHEMES IN THE NIGERIA CUSTOMS SERVICE.

PRE-ACTION NOTICE

We have been briefed and our services retained by customs officers employed between 1989 and 1994 (hereinafter referred to as segregated customs officers) and we have their instructions as our clients to write you as follows:

1. We must congratulate you on your appointment as the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
2. Your track record of excellence in the service of Nigeria and the Customs in particular speaks for you. You shall be a blessing to so many people during your tenure in office. We wish you a peaceful tenure in office.
3. We humbly request you to consider redressing the injustice meted to older officers sequel to directives communicated vide the letter NCSB/ABJ/AP&D/94/S.I/VOLV/19 dated 29 March 2022. This is connected with the implemented discriminatory special promotions given with backdated notional effects to newer officers recruited as graduates starting from 2009. These special promotions were reportedly approved by the Nigeria Customs Service Board (NCSB) consequent to Management’s presentation of the recommendations of its Generation Gap Committee. Find attached the report and recommendations of the Generation Gap Committee.
4. The service is now faced with a problem of trying to cope with the passive resistance to teamwork now created by a class conflict between the segregated customs officers and the favoured customs officers, courtesy of a generation gap.
5. We appeal to you to consider the same promotion for our clients, the segregated customs officers.
6. The management of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) recently announced its Boards approval of a proposal to institute yet another special promotion scheme designated competency based accelerated career progression plan (CBACP). This was made public by its National Public Relations Officer (PRO) Abdullahi Maiwada, a Chief Superintendent of Customs in a press release reference NCS/PR/SP/S.582/003/23/Vol. I of 19^th May 2023. The same PRO was quoted in an online Punch Newspaper report of 2 June, 2023, by Anozie Egole to have said that the NCS Board had approved the plan to close the Generation Gap that could lead to a vacuum in the NCS higher hierarchies if not addressed. Find attached the Press Release of 19^th May, 2023 with the approved memo on CBACP.
7. Formal protests and appeals against discrimination in reaction to the above referred advancement by upgraded and laterally converted older officers who attained university degrees with in- service study approvals, were ignored, notwithstanding an official intervention by the Senate committee on public petitions pursuant to a submission by Senator Gershom Bassey last year.
8. The competency based accelerated career progression  plan (CBACP) is also fraught with segregation against older officers having technically exempted them with a deliberate requirement of having not less than 10 more years in service, effective 1^st January 2023, to qualify for the proposed scheme.
9. The period between 1992 and 2009 when the Customs Management failed to conduct regular recruitments is what is termed as Generation gap.
10. Within the generation gap era, most of the older officers now being discriminated against were denied promotions to maintain manning levels for junior staff needed. The NCS however encouraged and gave approval to those willing to further their studies. Upon the reported completion of their university studies, they were either upgraded or laterally converted into the officer corps.
11. Both the 2022 Generation Gap advancement in rank of newer officers and the competency based accelerated career progression plan (CBACP) no matter how subtly communicated for image laundering by the PRO, are considered unfounded, discriminatory, extralegal and repugnant to equity, good order and natural justice. For a regimented service like the NCS sudden loss of seniority by an entire generation of older officers to their juniors is absurd.
12. The competency based accelerated career progression plan is designed to create a discriminatory dichotomy between those favoured by the Generation gap advancement of 2022 and the old officers denied of the advancement. While the former is to spend 2 years on each rank, the latter will continue to spend 3 and 4 years respectively on each rank. In a service that prides its motto as justice and Honesty it becomes amazing that such discrimination can be targeted against the generation of officers who had made enormous sacrifices especially in the past to save the service when there was shortage of junior staff. In line with this orchestrated discrimination, older officers were tactically schemed out during last year’s regular promotion exercise.
13. Only 4 out of the 175 promoted superintendent to chief superintendent were older officers, the rest were those recruited in 2011 and 2012.
14. This was deliberately done by raising the cut off mark after the conduct of the examination. Previously, criteria for promotion including cut off mark and vacancies are made known before the examination.
15. Worthy of mention here is the recent promotion of 7,000 officers by the Nigeria Immigration Service. In a statement credited to the acting Comptroller General of Immigration (CGI) and published by Punch online and Daily Trust online of 28th June 2023 reported by Stephen Angbulu and Joshua Odeyemi respectively. The acting CGI was quoted to have said that the promotion of newer officers above older ones is heartbreaking as it breeds low productivity and bad blood. She also was quoted to say that promotion should be based on first seniority, then hard work and dedication to duty. This is the way to go in order to instill seniority, discipline and regimentation in a paramilitary Service like the Customs.
16. 16. TAKE NOTICE that if after 30 days of the receipt of this letter, you do not take steps to redress the injustice meted to our clients by doing the following:-

(a)   Our clients should be given special promotions with back dated  notional  effects as was done in 2022 to newers officers recruited as graduates starting from 2009. In other words, give all graduate order officers advancement with the same incentives attached to what the earlier beneficiaries of 2022 enjoyed.

(b)   Our clients should be included in the competency based accelerated career progression plan (CBACP).

(c)    The management should desist from using management memos to alter the scheme of service. There are extant Public Service Rulers NCS scheme of service and the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which ought to guide the management of NCS in their promotion exercise.

17. 17. PLEASE TREAT AS VERY URGENT AS WE SHALL HAVE NO FURTHER RECOURSE TO YOU BEFORE TAKING ANY ACTION TO DEAL WITH THIS INJUSTICE.

Yours faithfully,

CHIEF CHUKWUMA EKOMARU SAN FCIARB KSC

LEGAL PRACTITIONER

Cc:

1. The Honourable Attorney General & Minister of Justice of the Federation

Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja.

2. The Head of Civil Service of the FederationCivil Service Commission

Civil Service Commission, Abuja.

3. The Secretary of the Government of the Federation

The Presidency, Abuja.

4. The Honourable Minister of Finance

Federal ministry of Finance, Abuja.

5. The Chief of Staff to the President,

The Presidency, Abuja.