House Of Reps Summons Emefiele, Hameed Ali, Move To Intervene In $176bn Customs Modernization Project

The House of Representatives has summoned the Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, and the Comptroller General of Customs, Hameed Ali, in connection with the customs modernization project.

The officials will testify before the committees on customs, finance, banking, and currency, which have been tasked with conducting an inquiry into the E-Customs project.

The resolution came after Leke Abejide of Kogi State presented a motion of urgent public urgency.

The committees will also hear from the Managing Director of Adani Mega System Limited and the Chairman of the CBN Technical Committee on CISS.

The investigation is looking at the project standoff between the federal government and Adani Mega System Limited.

In his motion, Abejide stated that the government is losing money from customs income because the project has been halted since 2017.

He informed the House that Adani Mega System Limited, which had entered into a contract with the Technical Committee on CISS, had obtained all necessary equipment, but that the government had failed to fulfill its end of the bargain.

“The level of engagement had reached a tipping point whereby Adani Mega Systems Ltd had procured the necessary equipment to begin the E-Customs projects as provided for in the contract, but since 13th July, 2017, the project had stalled without a solution in sight, further causing tremendous revenue loss to the Federal Government, which according to the Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, had previously appraised of having the potential of yielding Up to $176 million.”

The House directed that the committees explore the disagreement and figure out how to make the initiative work.

The committees were allowed four weeks to conduct their investigations.

READ MORE >>> Anambra 2021: 2Face Idibia Sends Message To Restive Youths