There are indications that President Muhammadu Buhari may have succumbed to pressure to lay off the National Security Adviser Babagana Monguno and his counterpart in the Nigeria Customs Service NCS, Col. Hamid Ali (Rtrd), a discreet source has told LeadingReporters.
Babagana Monguno, a retired Army General and former Chief of Defence Intelligence is believed to have been overwhelmed by the insecurity ravaging the country, necessitating his replacement with someone who will bring in fresh ideas on how the government may end insurgency, banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and other forms of criminality that has bedeviled Nigeria perennially.
Col. Ali, who was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari to man Nigeria Customs Service as Sole Administrator following allegation of massive fraud perpetrated by his predecessor, the former and late Comptroller General CG Abdullahi Dikko.
Dikko was believed to have corruptly leveraged his position as the then Comptroller General of Customers to rip the nations of Trillions of Naira.
Col. Hamid Ali (Rtrd), as a Sole Administrator of NCS was expected to man the service for about six months and hand over to a career CG from the service. However, the Presidency in their wisdom has thus far kept Ali, despite concerns that his age and health may not allow him to optimize his challenges of rejigging the service to a more effective one.
Despite criticism from some quarters that Col. Hamid Ali (Rtrd) has relegated his selflessness and modesty for a more flamboyant lifestyle, including owning new properties here and there and taking in new wife, Ali has succeeded in bringing a good level of discipline in the service which in turn has led to more result-oriented reforms that has increased the fortune of the Service.