· President accused of deliberately frustrating the promotion of DCG Nwafor
· Blamed for nepotism, calculated bypass of justice
· ‘Onochie lied, Nwaafor not next in line’
Although the Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohaneze Ndigbo has repeatedly expressed their support for President Tinubu, Nigerians are wondering why they are suddenly going confrontational over an unproven matter, MATILDA IBIMINA writes.
About a week ago, controversial former aide to late President Muhammadu Buhari, Lauretta Onochie, caused a stir which went viral listed what she termed as reasons why President Bola Ahmed Tinubu denied Deputy Comptroller General B U Nwafor the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service. Onochie said what worked against Nwafor was her gender, her State of origin, Anambra, and that she has no husband or boyfriend in the Presidential Villa, and has no governor backing her.
The accusations began when on August 1, a segment signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, revealed 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, has been extended by one year.
According to the statement, “The extension, approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, 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.”
Onanuga went on to state that, President Tinubu recognises Mr. Adeniyi’s steadfast leadership and commitment to service, and is confident that this extension will further strengthen the Nigeria Customs Service in achieving its strategic mandate of trade facilitation, revenue generation, and border security.
However, Onochie’s accusations quickly had multiple views, comments and shares, with many, crying foul.
One post by someone who signed his name as Jimoh Olusegun, which got multiple shares on WhatsApp, read: “DCG B U Nwafor, a highly respected officer from Anambra State, stood as the next in line to succeed the current Controller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi. Her record is exemplary, her service unblemished, and her rise through the ranks marked by diligence, discipline, and distinction.
“However, in a deeply disappointing turn of events, DCG Nwafor has now been denied this well-deserved elevation following the recent one-year tenure extension granted to CG Adeniyi just days ago. Her retirement looms in October 2026, and with this maneuver, the door has been quietly but deliberately shut on her legitimate opportunity to lead.
“Instead, DCG K I Adeola is now positioned as next in line after Nwafor’s retirement. A succession plan that feels less like meritocracy and more like a calculated bypass of justice. This is not how to heal a nation. This is not how to build trust in the aftermath of the Buhari years, which many Nigerians rightly recall as a season of division, selective appointments, and wounded national spirit. This is not how to ensure respect and acceptance for my Yoruba ethnic nationality.
“As Thomas Paine once warned: “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.”
“The civil war ended nearly sixty years ago, yet the ghost of that conflict still haunts our institutions. The continued marginalization of the South East this time embodied in the denial of an Igbo woman’s rise in the Customs hierarchy, sends a dangerous message to millions who still believe in equity, unity and national inclusion.
“Sadly, many Igbos within the APC have chosen silence, even complicity, when it comes to injustice cloaked in procedure. How can a nation truly move forward when merit is sacrificed at the altar of politics and ethnic manipulation?”
Olusegun’s post concluded by stating that DCG B U Nwafor deserved better, Nigeria deserves better and that true unity requires more than rhetoric, but it demands action, fairness, representation, and the courage to do what is right, even when it’s politically inconvenient.
Obvpiosly taking a cue from Onochies tweet which gained immediate support, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide accused President Bola Tinubu of deliberately frustrating the promotion of DCG B U Nwafor, to the position of Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service.
In a statement issued on Saturday August 2, by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr Ezechi Chukwu, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation condemned the President’s recent decision to extend the tenure of the current Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, who was already due for retirement.
“President Tinubu, a few days ago, granted a one-year tenure extension to the current Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, who is already due for retirement, thereby shortchanging the next in line of succession, DCG BU Nwafor, whose retirement would be due in October 2026,” the group said.
Ohanaeze argued that this action not only blocks Nwafor’s legitimate path to leadership but also creates room for another senior officer, DCG KI Adeola, to take over when Adeniyi eventually retires in 2026, thereby bypassing Nwafor entirely.
“With this reprehensible development, the next in hierarchy after Nwafor, DCG K I Adeola, is strategically positioned to take over from CG Adeniyi in 2026, rather than DCG Nwafor,” the statement read.
Describing the move as “a crown jewel of institutional unfairness, a peak of favouritism, and an ultimate display of blatant nepotism over merit, bureaucratic standard, and social conscience,” Ohanaeze said the development strikes at the heart of national unity.
The group warned that such decisions undermine the federal character principle enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution and called on the President to reverse the decision in the interest of equity and national cohesion.
“This discriminatory act is a violation of the principle of national unity and tenets of the Nigerian national anthem which echoes: ‘Though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand,’” the statement added.
Rhetorically, Ohanaeze asked: “Is this the prototype of the Nigerian brand of brotherhood and patriotism? Can we continue to pretend that we are one people and one nation in the face of this canonic ethnic profiling?”
The group called on President Tinubu to “revisit this obvious act of robbing Peter to pay Paul, which amounts to injustice, inequity, failure of public morality, and a bruise on national pride.”
But despite this widespread condemnation of President Tinubu that Onochie’s post immediately stirred, investigation has put a lie to the claim that Nwafor is next in rank.
This is because, on May 4, 2023, the same day that Nwafor was promoted to the rank of Assistant Comptroller-General, ACG, five officers were promoted to the rank of Deputy Comptroller-General, DCG, including the current Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi. “So how can she suddenly be next in line ahead of four DCGs, a rank she is yet to attain,” Shuna Fakum, a public affairs analyst said.
Also, on the same date, May 4, 2023, 15 ACGs including B U Nwafor were confirmed in addition to the five DCGs. “So, I think the problem was caused by our very own Laretta Onochie. I don’t know if she didn’t check her facts before making that post or it was a deliberate attempt at stirring the hornet’s nest. But anyone who bothers to do a fact check will discover that she lied,” Shuna Fakum concluded.
