The House of Representatives unveiled plans on Thursday to investigate N28 trillion in revenue lost to trade malpractices allegedly perpetrated by rogue foreign companies over the past eight years.
The resolution was passed as a sequel to the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance for ‘government agencies to track activities in the private sector and several foreign and local companies for haemorrhaging the Nigerian economy through trade malpractices’, sponsored by Hon. Olufemi Bamisile.
The resolution was passed after the adoption of a motion sponsored by Hon. Olufemi Bamisile, who solicited House intervention.
In his lead debate, Hon. Bamisile observed that “despite the joint effort of government agencies to track activities in the private sector, several foreign and local companies continue to devise new and sophisticated schemes to haemorrhage the Nigerian economy through trade malpractices.
“The House further notes that in the last eight years, Nigeria has lost an estimated N28 trillion to trade malpractices perpetrated by rogue foreign companies.
“Daily, hundreds of trade malpractices are carried out by foreign and local companies operating in the different sectors of the Nigerian economy. The EFCC, Customs, Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), and NIMASA can definitely not be in the same place at the same time.
“The House observed that in the maritime company alone, the volume of revenue diverted by foreign companies is about 40 times the revenue target of the Nigeria Customs Service. This is the same practice in dozens of subsectors of the Nigerian economy.
“The House further observed that the above stated in paragraph 2a does not include the N6 trillion lost annually to a sophisticated tax avoidance scheme (according to a former FIRS boss on an issue relating to trade factors) perpetrated by some foreign companies. Some of the prevalent cases are happening in Nigeria’s free trade zone, including the Oil & Gas Free Trade Zones Authority (OGFTZA).
“The House is worried that if this continues, Nigeria’s economy will worsen while some people sit in their private spaces to enjoy the dividends of this malpractice, thereby destroying the economy and its hope of development in those sectors.
“The House is disturbed that if this issue is not addressed, Nigeria will keep losing to trade malpractices as a result of the loose ends in the foreign companies.
“The House is concerned that there is a similar motive why the said act is being carried out despite different efforts by government agencies to track activities in the private sector and foreign companies.
“The House believed that they must have partners who call the shots and cover their tracks so as to avoid being caught.
“The House further believed that there is a need to investigate and ascertain the illegal economic trade malpractice that has been carried out in the private sector by foreign and local companies in Nigeria,” he noted.
To this end, the House resolved to set up a Special Investigating Committee to recover, harness, or prevent further losses of such magnitude in a bid to enhance the overall country’s GDP and restore economic health.
The House mandated the Committee to track activities in the private sector and prevent several foreign and local companies from haemorrhaging the Nigerian economy through trade malpractices.
In its bid to ensure adequate coverage of various sectors of the economy, the House resolved that the investigative scope of the Special Investigative Committee will be elastic to cover private sector activities on land, sea, and air.
The Special Investigative Committee is to carry out its statutory oversight functions in an increasingly sophisticated private sector and build a technical software tracker that cannot be easily bypassed, which will preempt the multiple trade malpractice schemes employed by their foreign companies.
After concluding the investigation, the Special Investigative Committee is expected to submit its report to the House after the whole process is concluded.
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