EFCC Working With Customs To Recover N10.6bn – Reps

The House of Representatives Committee on Customs said on Wednesday that it was working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and others to recover the N10.6bn customs and excise duties collected by five commercial banks.

The Chairman of the committee, Leke Abejide, stated this at an investigative hearing organised by his panel.

He said that the committee was determined to recover all unremitted funds and block all leakages before the end of 2021.

He said that the committee was currently working with the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the EFCC on the recovery mission.

Abejide directed all the affected banks to provide necessary document to the auditors for reconciliation and onward payment.

He said, “We have been on this assignment for about a year now. It was because of COVID-19 that we could not do much last year but we are determined to finish it before the end of 2021.

“The assignment is so important because the major issues confronting Nigeria today is inadequate revenue and this is as a result of leakages everywhere.

“We are going to make sure that any money belonging to the Nigerian Customs Service that have not been given to them or that is being delayed or used for business is recovered; we are determined.

“We have not done much; we have only checked five banks and we have discovered N10.6bn.”

The commercial banks which were represented by top officials said that the disputed amount could be reconciled if the auditors sit with the banks to compare notes.

The committee resolved that the commercial banks must interface with the auditors, reconcile grey areas and report to the committee within two weeks.