Emmanuel Ochayi
The Senate has called for an immediate probe of a revenue loss of N1.3 trillion which was revealed by the Nigerian Customs Service(NCS) due to concessions granted during the previous administration.
The Senate’s reaction comes following Deputy Comptroller General Mba Musa’s disclosure during a joint session that emphasized the financial setback inflicted by waivers and concessions under former President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure.
Join our WhatsApp Channel“While addressing the Senate joint committees, I emphasized that these concessions significantly impacted the potential revenue the NCS could have contributed to Nigeria’s consolidated revenue fund in 2023,” stated DCG Musa, who represented Comptroller General Adewale Adeniyi at the session.
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“We should not deny ourselves revenues that could make our economy vibrant. By now, we should be consolidating on waivers given to boost revenues,” Musa stressed.
Reacting to this revelation, Sani Musa, chairman of the joint committee, called for a thorough Senate probe into these waivers and concessions, asserting that revenue generation must not be hindered, considering its critical role in the country’s economic growth.
Moreover, questions were raised concerning the NCS modernization project, known as e-customs, with the Senate seeking specifics on the agreement signed by the federal government. However, Adeniyi informed the Senate that the service lacked access to the details of the $3.2 billion modernization project agreement.
“The NCS was not privy to the specifics of the modernization agreement,” stated Mba during the session with federal lawmakers.
The project, entrusted to a concessionaire under the previous administration, has drawn criticism from stakeholders who have raised concerns about its potential threat to national security and the future of the service.
As the Senate seeks to unravel the circumstances surrounding these concessions and the opaque modernization project agreement, the focus now turns to uncovering the details and implications of these decisions made under the former administration.
