The minority caucus of the house of
representatives has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
to investigate Hadiza Bala Usman, the suspended managing director of the
Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
President Muhammadu Buhari
last Thursday approved the suspension of Usman following a recommendation by
Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation.
He also directed Amaechi to
set up an administrative panel of inquiry to investigate the management of the
NPA. On Monday, Amaechi inaugurated the panel.
In a statement issued on Monday and signed by Ndudi Elumelu, minority leader of the lower chamber, the caucus demanded a full-scale probe of the NPA management.
The lawmakers said an
administrative panel would not carry out a thorough investigation into the
matter.
“The Minority Caucus in the
House of Representatives is alarmed by the alleged looting of over N165 billion
operating surplus as well as other diverted funds running into billions of
naira, by top officials of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA),” the statement read.
“Such huge economic crime
against the nation should not be left to an administrative panel of enquiry,
but committed to an anti-graft agency for independent investigation.
“Our Caucus holds that the
mere suspension of the indicted Managing Director of the NPA, Hadiza Bala
Usman, and the resort to an administrative panel of enquiry even after the
report by the Supervising Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, exposed an unremitted
and possibly diverted operating surplus of N165 billion, amounts romancing and
perfuming corruption by the APC-led Federal Government.
“The Minority Caucus also
believes that the recourse to an administrative instead of a full-scale
criminal investigation can only serve as decoy to shield some other APC
government officials involved in the looting spree at NPA and other affiliated
agencies in the transport sector.
“This is because, apart from
the unremitted N165 billion cited by the Minister, other documents and reports
from the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation had also uncovered
several sleaze, including unremitted deduction to Federal Inland Revenue
Service (FIRS) amounting to N3,667,750,470. $148,845,745.04, Euro 4,891,449.50
and £252,682.14.
“This is in addition to audit
query of N15.18 billion allegedly stolen through inflated Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) projects/programmes under the watch of the suspended NPA
Managing Director.”
The lawmakers said the alleged
misappropriated funds in NPA would have been used to tackle the rising
insecurity in the country.
They urged the anti-graft
agency to take a drastic step to “recover the stolen funds as well as prosecute
all involved in the looting spree.”
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