As it was in 2014 so it is in 2018 and it is sad we’ve maintained the status quo under an administration that promises change. At the moment, several members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are standing trial for corruption based on the unexplainable funds collected from the Office of the National Security Adviser under the leadership of Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd.) in respect of the 2015 Presidential elections.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has maintained that the NSA office was turned into a cash cow to finance the 2015 elections. Going by this revelation, it should have sent a signal to members of the ruling party that such will not be allowed by Nigerians under the new dispensation but it seems we are about to have a repeat of the arms deal scandal through the Nigeria Customs Service.

For the second time in a row the Comptroller General of Customs, Hameed Ali who has been the front man of the Buhari Support Organization (BSO) led its members on a courtesy visit to the President at the Aso Villa Abuja on Tuesday, 22nd May 2018. According to information released on social media by the Special Assitant to the President on New Media Lauretta Onochie, the President directed that all campaign groups for his reelection should collapse into the BSO.

Buhari’s directive is not only ill-advised, it is also harmful to the nation. The collapsing of all support groups under Ali’s headship of the BSO is dangerous for Nigeria’s democracy. Ali currently heads one of the country’s highest revenue generating agency. If history is anything to go by, then there’s every possibility that the BSO may have access to slush funds just like Dasuki made available to the Goodluck Jonathan campaign in 2015.

Colonel Hameed Ali’s position as the coordinator of the BSO is to say the least an act of impunity. He needs to relinquish the leadership of one of these bodies. The BSO has spent a huge amount of money in recent times. From the acquisition of its Abuja office to the inauguration of state chapters, the organisation seems to have unexplained access to funds. Could Ali be diverting public funds to oil the machinery of the BSO?

In as much as nothing is wrong with BSO as a group, the involvement of Ali in the group is a dereliction of duty that may cast aspersions on the President’s famed integrity. Buhari is expected to act fast and do the needful. Ali cannot preside over the Nigerian Customs Service and the BSO. It is wrong!

tosin adesina