The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs
Services (NCS), Col. hammed Ali (rtd), has said the suspect and the $8.06
million intercepted last Tuesday at the tarmac of the Murtala Muhammed International
Airport in Lagos would be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) to unravel the owners of the money and what it was meant for.
The Customs DG disclosed this on Thursday when he
appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance chaired by
Hon. James Faleke, where he also stressed the need to broaden excise base so
that it can incorporate carbonated goods.
Ali explained that his men got the information that
the consignment of the money was to be moved.
He said: "Fortunately, they put their own men
on alert and the vehicle on January 16 at the tarmac was intercepted, then
there were about three commercial lifeguards on ground; we are still in the
process of investigation. The vehicle was intercepted at the tarmac and the Customs
personnel got the driver.
“They insisted they wanted to search the engine and
there they found eight wraps and they became suspicious and insisted on knowing
the origin of the wraps. The driver who kept mute was the first person they
arrested, as they took the consignment back to the Comptroller’s
office."
Ali stressed that after the parcel was opened in the
presence of all other agencies that work at the airport; it was counted and confirmed
it was $8.6 million.
He stated: "That was properly documented and
taken to the authorities. After that, we are doing a preliminary investigation
of the suspect and the amount together, and then we will hand them over to
EFCC. I hope at the end of the investigation EFCC will reveal who are the
owners of the fund, where is it supposed to go, and what it’s meant for."
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has ordered
investigation into activities of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety
Agency (NIMASA) over its failure to submit its audited accounts to the Auditor
General of the Federation (AGF) from 2014 till date.
The Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts,
Hon. Wole Oke, stated this yesterday when the Director General of the agency,
Hon. Dakuku Peterside, who appeared before it, could not give satisfactory
explanations on why the audited accounts were not remitted to the appropriate quarters
as at when due.
The committee had last Monday ordered Peterside to
appear before it within 48 hours over the inability of the agency to submit its
audit accounts in the last four years
failure which a bench of warrant of arrest would be issued against him.
However, Peterside stood his ground and insisted
that reports in question were yet to be approved and signed by the board of the
agency.
He said he met accumulated unaudited accounts of
the agency when he resumed as the DG, and that he had stated clearing the
backlogs of unaudited accounts for accountability.
The committee, however, frowned at the submission
of Peterside, and resolved to probe the agency and placed it on status enquiry
for a comprehensive auditing to ascertain its financial status.
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