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By Steve Agbota
The House of Representatives has said that Nigeria is losing about 8.810 billion dollars annually from the non-implementation of e-Customs modernisation project of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
The project is projected to generate about 176.2 billion dollars within the 20 years concession period.
Mr Leke Abejide, Chairman, House Committee on Customs and Excise, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja during a public hearing of the Joint Committees on Customs and Excise, Finance and Banking and Currency.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, who was represented at the hearing by the Director, Home Finance, Stephen Okon, said that there were pending court cases which had delayed the implementation of the project.
She said that there are three suits and as such the project could not continue, adding that the pending cases were impeding the commencement of the e-Customs Project.
She stated that in order to pave the way for the take-off of the project, the ministry was liaising with the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation to ensure that the arbitration was speedily concluded.
The Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), represented by the Assistant Comptroller General (ICT), Galadima Saidu, said that the matter had been previously heard and dispensed with by the House, wondering why it was reopening it.
He said that the contractor, Adani Mega System Ltd, which was supposed to execute the project had been relieved of it.
Meanwhile, the crisis that engulfed the operations of the electronic truck call-up system (ETO) and the multilayered extortion points on the Lagos ports access roads have been described as additional factors deepening inflation in Nigeria. The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) stated this while presiding over a meeting of truckers under the aegis of the Council of Maritime Transport Union and Associations (COMTUA), in Lagos.
