The Comptroller General of Customs, Hamid Ali was spotted flying first
class on British Airways flight from London to Abuja, on Tuesday,
according to PREMIUM TIMES exclusive report.
The move is a clear violation of President Muhammadu Buhariโs directive banning public officials from flying first class.The
president had earlier this year directed the Minister of Finance, Kemi
Adeosun, to issue a circular to all government agencies barring top
officials from travelling first class, a measure put in place to cut the
high cost of travelling by public officials.
According to PREMIUM TIMES:
The BA flight BA83 which took off from Gate 43 of Heathrow Terminal 5,
London, on Tuesday, nearly an hour behind its scheduled 10.43pm
departure time, arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja,
on Wednesday morning at about 5a.m, with Mr. Ali on board.
The reasons for Mr. Aliโs travel to London remained unknown as at the
time of publishing this report, but customs insiders said the trip was
official.
Several passengers on the flight told PREMIUM TIMES they saw Mr. Ali
seated in the First Class compartment of the aircraft during the flight.
“It was a major talking point among some passengers whether the policy
(barring public officials from flying first class) is being implemented
with exceptions or whether it is meant for the shelves,” one passenger
on the flight told this newspaper.
There were notable Nigerians on board and a number of them confirmed to
this newspaper that the customs comptroller-general was in the first
class cabin of the aircraft during the flight.
A first class ticket to and from London costs $11,423.23 (about N3.4million).
Besides being a close friend of Mr. Buhari, Mr. Ali, a retired army
colonel, is a man seen by many Nigerian as frugal and incorruptible.
When PREMIUM TIMES contacted the customs spokesperson, Wale Adeniyi, on
Thursday, he confirmed Mr. Ali was on the BA flight, but that he
travelled on a business class ticket. Mr. Adeniyi was not on the flight,
and he responded to our reporterโs enquiry without checking with Mr.
Ali. But our sources, some of whom travelled business class, said Mr.
Adeniyiโs claim was inaccurate.
“That is not true,”one passenger said. “I was on business class, and I
was awake most of the flight. So if you line up those on business class
during that flight, I can identify them.”
