The Controller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), has promoted Comptroller Bashir Abubakar of Apapa Area Command to an Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) after he rejected $420,000 bribe.
In the year 2018, Mr. Abubakar rejected a bribe of about $420,000 from an importer who wanted to clear a container of Tramadol.
Tramadol is a pharmaceutical product prohibited under Nigerian laws. The abuse of Tramadol is known to have dire health consequences among the population.
Already, Nigeria has banned the manufacture and importation of codeine. The Ministry of Health in May 2018 directed the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to immediately cease the importation of codeine.
The ban was specifically in respect of codeine as an active pharmaceutical ingredient for cough preparations.
The directive came on the heels of an addiction crisis exposed by the BBC in an undercover film.
