Senate probes Customs over N62bn under remittance

By Adekunle Adesuji and Jonas Ezieke, Abuja

 Senate Public Account Committee ( SPAC) has launched an investigation into the Nigerian Customs Service under remittance N62 billion in the revenue generated by the agency.

 

The revelation of the under-remittance is contained in 2017 Auditor General Report which is currently being considered by the Committee chaired by Senator Ahmed Wadada.

 

The query reads, ” in the report of NCS summary of the monthly collection 2017 total collection for the Federation account were N691 billion .

 

” However , the receipt of NCS collection and remittance into Federation  account 2017 showed actual remittance into Federation account with the CBN for the year under review to be N629 billion .

 

 

” A comparison of these two documents revealed an under remittance N62 billion.

 

” There was no footnote or any form of additional information attached to the two reports. Showing the reasons for the discrepancies neither there was any form of communication of the management on the intention for the future reconciliation or remittance .

 

 

” The above anomalies could attributed weaknesses in the internal control system at Nigeria Customs Service Headquarters Abuja.”

 

The Chairman of the committee therefore gave the Customs to come  up with their defence on the allegation of under remittance in two weeks time.

 

Meanwhile, Senate has mandated the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) to appear it over $852m debt  by the operators

 

He said NPA was unable to recover the debt because tenants were forcefully evicted from the estate due to concession agreement in 2006.

.As Reps c’ttee issues arrest warrant on CBN Governor, Cardoso, others

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Committee on Public petition has issued warrant of the arrest on the Central Bank Governor, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, the Accountant General of the Federation, Mrs Oluwatoyin Madein and 17 others for refusing to appear before it to answer questions on their operations.

 

This followed the adoption of a motion by Rep. Fred Agbedi (PDP-Bayelsa) at the committee’s hearing on Tuesday.

 

Moving the motion, Agbedi said that the arrest warrant had become inevitable following the attitude of the invitees.

 

He said that the parliament worked with time and the CEOs had been invited four times, but failed to respond.

 

He said that the CEOs should be brought to appear before the committee by the Inspector General of Police through a warrant of arrest after due diligence by the Speaker, Rep. Tajudeen Abbas.

 

In his ruling, the Chairman of the committee, Rep.    Micheal Irom (APC-Cross River)  said that the I-G should ensure the CEOs were brought before the committee on Dec. 14.

 

Earlier, the petitioner, Mr Fidelis Uzowanem, said that the petition was anchored on the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) report of 2021.

 

He said that the report was a summary of the transactions in the oil and gas industry for 2021 which NEITI could to be challenged.

 

“We took up the challenge to examine the report and discovered that what NEITI put together is a report is only consolidation of fraud that has been going on in the oil and gas industry.

 

“It dates back to 2016 because was have been following and we put up a petition to this committee to examine what has happened.

 

“The 2024 budget of 27.5 trillion that has been proposed can be confidently be funded from the recoverable amount that we identified in the NEITI report.

 

“It is basically a concealment of illegal transactions that took place in NNPCL, they have been in sink with some oil companies where some companies that did not produce crude were paid cash core, an amount paid for crude oil production,” he said.

He added: “We also found that the cash core payment was use as a channel for laundering funds by NNPCL and we found out that NEITI was able to conceal it in its report.

 

“In 2021 NEITI reported that Total Exploration and Production Nigeria-Ltd was paid 168 million dollars but examination of submission by the company shows that it received 292 million dollars.

 

“In other words, 124 million dollars was laundered by NNPCL through Total because monies that have been officially paid to Total could not have been concealed if it were not meant for fraudulent purposes.

 

“Also for Chevron, the dollar payment NEITI puts forward in its report was 76 million dollars but document emanating from Chevron showed that they received as much as 267 million dollars.”

 

“In other words, 191 million was laundered under the cover of Chevron and NEITI concealed that; also, Nigeria Agip Company received 188milliom dollars but none of it was reported by NEITI”.

 

Some of those to be arrested were the Chief Executive Officer, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), that of Ethiop Eastern Exploration and Production Company Ltd, as well as the CEO of the Western Africa Exploration and Production.

.Condemns  “sophisticated” surge in financial crimes

 

The House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes has expressed worry over the surge in sophisticated financial crimes and the need to quickly arrest the development.

 

Rep. Ginger Obinna, Chairman of the committee , said this at the hearing of the defense of 2024 appropriation bill by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Abuja on Tuesday.

 

“Financial crimes pose a significant threat to the stability and progress of any economy,” he said.

 

According to him, in recent years, our nation has witnessed a surge in sophisticated financial crimes that demand our immediate attention and robust defense mechanisms.

 

He said that from money laundering to cybercrime, the challenges remained multifaceted and ever-evolving, adding that it was the duty of the committee to stay ahead of these threats.

 

He said it was imperative to adapt its strategies and equip the relevant agencies adequately to counteract the forces that sought to undermine the economic well-being of our nation.

 

“The budget estimate before us today is not just a collection of numbers; it is a reflection of our commitment to creating an environment where our citizens can trust the financial institutions that drive our economy.

 

He said the committee pledged to provide the necessary resources to empower the EFCC to carry out their vital missions effectively.

 

The chairman of the commission, Ola Olukoyede, while speaking on the challenges posed by the 2023 capital project, said: “A few capital projects we are implementing in 2023 are not from the 2023 capital project but from the 2022 capital rollover.”

 

He said some  EFCC offices were on rented land, adding that some of their landlords were not willing to sell.

 

Speaking on its plan to execute its budget, Olukayode said:  “We are going to work in collaboration with the committee, and we are going to welcome oversight.”

 

He said if the EFCC had the opportunity, the 2024 budget would be implemented to the last, adding that they had slowed down the process of budget implementation because of funding. (NAN)