Customs scam: Senate committee recovers N140bn from banks, 60 firms

…As Reps probes NPA’s termination of INTELS contract

Olufemi Samuel and Henry Omunu, Abuja

A Joint Committee of the Senate on Customs, Excise and Tariff and Marine Transport, on Wednesday, said it was able to recover N140billion after an investigation it conducted on the activities of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).

The Joint Committee said the recovered sum had been paid to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

A report on the probe of Customs submitted to the Senate by the Committee Chairman, Senator Hope Uzodinma, indicated the latest development.

The Senate had during its sitting on November 15, 2016, mandated its committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff to carry out a thorough investigation into the activities of the NCS with a view of identifying the leakages and irregularities as well as the causes of the declining revenue profile of the service.

According to the report, some amount of money recovered were paid into the CBN through unnamed banks to the tune of N128billion, while over 60 companies balanced the remaining N12billion.

The report also indicated that companies that were used to establish the facts of this investigation cumulatively represented less than one per cent of the entire import and export value chain.

It said: “This implicitly presents a compelling reasoning and justification for this investigation to realistically and sustainably act as a sustained check and balance to the system.

“It also enabled the Senate to acquire sufficiently conclusive data that effectively benchmark the findings, while enthroning a system that proactively responds to the dynamic transformation of these noted infractions.

The Committee on Customs indicated also that it broke new grounds during the investigations with mind – boggling discoveries on how monumental frauds were perpetrated in the Nigeria’s cash cow.

The committee said it uncovered a huge mismatch in the actual remittances to the Central Bank of Nigeria of the duty, taxes, and levies collected by the approved collection banks.

It said over 65 per cent of “our Forex allocation have no positive impact on the Nigerian economy, but rather engenders a thriving money laundering and forex round tripping racket.”

The report added: “A situation where the CBN who is the administrator of the Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) is handicapped by its inability to access empirical records of the country’s trade volumes and have no concrete programmes for ensuring the monitoring and compliance of their foreign exchange manual prevents them from providing a concise forex utilisation profile of the companies that source forex from them.”

The Senate is to hold a debate on the report at a time to be announced by the leadership.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives, on Wednesday, resolved to investigate the termination of the 17- year-old contract between the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and INTELS Nigeria Limited by President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

An ad-hoc committee yet to be constituted by the Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, is expected to carry out the probe and has two weeks to complete its assignment and report its findings.

The House’s resolution was sequel to the adoption of a motion sponsored by Hon. Diri Duoye (PDP, Bayelsa).

Moving the motion, Douye said that the agreement between the NPA and INTELS entails INTELS being responsible for the provision of logistics and facilities in the maritime sector based on boats pilotage monitoring and supervision whereby INTELS collects revenue on behalf of the NPA.

According to him, based on the contract, INTELS had expended $900million in the construction and operation of Apapa Port, Warri Port and the Federal Ocean Terminal Port, Onne in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

He stated that the logistics firm had secured foreign loans to finance the construction and operation of the three port terminals, adding that INTELS had carried out the services contained in the contract since the year 2000 when the contract was entered into between the two parties.

The lawmaker said that the Federal Government has sealed all the port terminals managed by INTELS as a result of the termination of the contract without due process and without consulting with the logistics company before sealing the terminals.

“The termination of the contract was conveyed in a letter dated, September 27, 2017, by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation to the NPA managing director as a response to NPA’s letter of May 31, 2017.

“The basis for the termination of the boats pilotage monitoring and supervision agreement was on the alleged illegality of the agreement with the government citing the violation of some sections of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), particularly on the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy of the Federal Government,” he added.

Douye said that the termination of the contract by the NPA has far reaching implications considering the fate that awaits the 7,000 Nigerians employed by INTELS and their defendants.

Contributing to debate on the motion, Hon. Hassan Saleh described the termination of the contract as unfair, particularly when INTELS had invested huge amounts on the terminals.

He said that there is the need to maintain the status quo until an investigation is carried out by the House.

A lawmaker from Kaduna state, Hon Simon Arabo, while supporting the call for an independent probe by the House, said that the termination of the contract by the NPA’s management was “an act of impunity”, adding that INTELS has been doing business in the country for many years.

Hon. Sergius Oguns averred that the Federal Government ought to have carried out an investigation before cancelling the contract with INTELS, warning that the style adopted by government was capable of scaring away potential foreign investors.

But another member of the House, Hon Rotimi Agunsoye, opposed the adoption of the motion on the grounds that the House has no business being involved in the agreement between the NPA and INTELS.

He argued that the parties to the contract should be allowed to sort out their contractual differences in court.