Gus Lilur Highlights Customs Case: Presidential Aides Must Truly Assist the President

HRM Khalilur R Abdullah Sahlawiy, known as Gus Lilur, has highlighted the case of Director General of Customs and Excise, Djaka Budhi Utama, who has been implicated in a Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) trial concerning alleged bribe flows worth billions of rupiah. He believes President Prabowo Subianto must evaluate the environment within the Directorate General of Customs and Excise. As a cigarette entrepreneur, Gus Lilur claims to understand well the track record and leadership of Djaka Budhi Utama at the Directorate General of Customs and Excise. According to him, an official at the director general level should serve as the President’s aide in safeguarding state revenue, regulating excise governance, and protecting state funds. “We want all of the President’s aides to truly assist the President. But I see that this particular aide, the Director General of Customs and Excise, is not helping. He is instead embarrassing the President,” Gus Lilur said in a statement on Sunday, 14 June 2026. Gus Lilur stressed that his criticism is not baseless. He referred to facts revealed during the trial at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court. However, for Gus Lilur, the heroic appearance actually exposes a more fundamental problem. He even described such enforcement actions as nothing more than an empty show. “As an educated citizen, I laugh watching the Director General of Customs and Excise stage a drama that is clearly worthless rubbish. This is not just about illegal cigarettes. This is about morally damaged leadership at Customs and Excise,” he asserted. On that basis, Gus Lilur firmly urged President Prabowo Subianto to immediately dismiss Djaka Budhi Utama from his post as Director General of Customs and Excise. According to him, the testimony emerging in the KPK trial is too serious to ignore. He also reminded that Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa had previously stated he would carry out a dismissal if evidence of involvement proved strong. “The evidence presented by the KPK clearly shows that the Director General of Customs and Excise is the source of the problem, not the solution. If a presidential aide has no morals, and is moreover named in a KPK trial over alleged bribe receipt, then there is certainly nothing else to be expected,” Gus Lilur stressed. According to him, the President needs aides who possess courage, integrity, patriotism, and self-respect in defending the nation’s interests, not officials who are busy performing on press conference stages but fail to address the root of the problem.