No waiver was granted for N255m cars – Okonjo-Iweala tells Reps committee
The
Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has reiterated that
Coscharis Limited was not granted waiver for the two bulletproof BMW
cars purchased by her Aviation counterpart, Ms. Stella Oduah.
The Minister said this while testifying on Monday before the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation in Abuja.
She also defended the policy on import duty waiver, stating that it was designed to protect the economy by encouraging the private sector in the investment drive.
Shedding more light on the alleged contentious waiver claimed by some officials, she said: “What I know of the matter is that on June 23, 2012, the Lagos State Government applied to the President for waiver, as is normally done for inspection charges and duty exemption for assorted brands of vehicles, in favour of Coscharis Motors for the conduct of the 18th National Sports Festival or the Eko Games.
“Having met all due requirements for such a waiver, Lagos State was granted this waiver for the import of 300 units of various types, and this was granted. What I know is that on this list, there was no mention of bulletproof cars, and that is all I want to say. So, no waiver was granted for bulletproof cars.”
Continuing, she explained that “The law on the common external tariffs guided our tariff policy. It has a provision by His Excellency to provide waivers under certain conditions.
“In the case of these imports for games, the country has no leasing business per se on a large scale that can be used to get this number of cars for officials, so states normally apply.
“So, if they have shown what the cost of these units are, how they are going to be used and so on and so forth, then we go through and the application is made, the waiver is granted if all the facts are clear. It is under that particular law.”
When asked by Zakari Mohammed to throw light on whether Ms. Oduah,
acted appropriately by approving money for the procurement of the cars
far above her monetary approval threshold, she said: “I do not really
feel it is my place to give advice on this particular matter.
“With regard to the issue on procurements with limits and so on, it is proper to perhaps refer to the procurement law, which has all the limits for the various levels of approval. We have procurement laws and reference to that is far better than my giving extempore guidance.”
However, the meeting ended abruptly when members who sought clarifications in respect of the alleged purchase of two bulletproof cars were rebuffed by the Committee Chairman, Nkiruka Onyejiocha, development that did not go down well with the members, including Jerry Manwe and Nasir Ali Ahmed.
On his part, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Abdullahi Dikko, informed the panel that the total revenue loss to the Federal Government through it since January this year is N603 billion, out of which waivers on importation of petroleum products alone amounted to N263.8 billion.
In its submission during the second day of the hearing on the purchase of the cars, Deputy Comptroller-General, Public Relations, Manasah Jatau, who spoke on behalf of the C-G said that Coscharis deceived the National Security Adviser (NSA) to get the import waiver for the two vehicles.
“The duty payable was supposed to be N10,133,505.74 million, but that duty was not paid because the said import has an import duty exemption certificate (IDEC) number BO/R.102/S.3/V.111B/73 of 20/11/2012 issued by the Federal Ministry of Finance, issued to the Lagos State Government (the beneficiary) through Messrs Coscharis Motors Limited for the 18th National Sports Festival (Eko 2012).
“The end user number is 000001672 of June 6, 2013, and it was issued by the office of the NSA. That is the information we have.”
The Minister said this while testifying on Monday before the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation in Abuja.She also defended the policy on import duty waiver, stating that it was designed to protect the economy by encouraging the private sector in the investment drive.
Shedding more light on the alleged contentious waiver claimed by some officials, she said: “What I know of the matter is that on June 23, 2012, the Lagos State Government applied to the President for waiver, as is normally done for inspection charges and duty exemption for assorted brands of vehicles, in favour of Coscharis Motors for the conduct of the 18th National Sports Festival or the Eko Games.
“Having met all due requirements for such a waiver, Lagos State was granted this waiver for the import of 300 units of various types, and this was granted. What I know is that on this list, there was no mention of bulletproof cars, and that is all I want to say. So, no waiver was granted for bulletproof cars.”
Continuing, she explained that “The law on the common external tariffs guided our tariff policy. It has a provision by His Excellency to provide waivers under certain conditions.
“In the case of these imports for games, the country has no leasing business per se on a large scale that can be used to get this number of cars for officials, so states normally apply.
“So, if they have shown what the cost of these units are, how they are going to be used and so on and so forth, then we go through and the application is made, the waiver is granted if all the facts are clear. It is under that particular law.”
“With regard to the issue on procurements with limits and so on, it is proper to perhaps refer to the procurement law, which has all the limits for the various levels of approval. We have procurement laws and reference to that is far better than my giving extempore guidance.”
However, the meeting ended abruptly when members who sought clarifications in respect of the alleged purchase of two bulletproof cars were rebuffed by the Committee Chairman, Nkiruka Onyejiocha, development that did not go down well with the members, including Jerry Manwe and Nasir Ali Ahmed.
On his part, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Abdullahi Dikko, informed the panel that the total revenue loss to the Federal Government through it since January this year is N603 billion, out of which waivers on importation of petroleum products alone amounted to N263.8 billion.
In its submission during the second day of the hearing on the purchase of the cars, Deputy Comptroller-General, Public Relations, Manasah Jatau, who spoke on behalf of the C-G said that Coscharis deceived the National Security Adviser (NSA) to get the import waiver for the two vehicles.
“The duty payable was supposed to be N10,133,505.74 million, but that duty was not paid because the said import has an import duty exemption certificate (IDEC) number BO/R.102/S.3/V.111B/73 of 20/11/2012 issued by the Federal Ministry of Finance, issued to the Lagos State Government (the beneficiary) through Messrs Coscharis Motors Limited for the 18th National Sports Festival (Eko 2012).
“The end user number is 000001672 of June 6, 2013, and it was issued by the office of the NSA. That is the information we have.”
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