Headlines

Senate Committee To Probe NEPZA's N14.3b Fraud

Published

5 years ago

Oct 23, 2019.

– Senate committee on trade and investment calls for full investigation into illegal transfer of N14.3bn to a private company
– The chairman of the committe, Oko stressed the Committee’s readiness to do a thorough investigation
– Rose Oko, said that the panel would not spare any effort in getting to the root of how the amount went into private company’s account

The Senate Committee on Trade and Investment has said that it demands full explanation from the Minister, Aisha Abubakar on how N14.3billion in 2017 budgetary allocation of Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) was illegally transfered to a private company account without due process.
Worried by the brazen disregard to the 2017 Appropriation Act, the Chairman of Senate Committee on Trade and Investment, Rose Oko, said that the panel would not spare any effort in getting to the root of how the amount went into private company’s account.
Speaking when the Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubarkar,appeared for her ministry’s budget defence, Oko stressed the Committee’s readiness to do a thorough investigation.
READ ALSO: 40-year-old-man-drowns-in-kano-pond/
“The committee is aware of the existing legislative query on the ministry and the Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) over N14.3 billion, illegally transferred from the 2017 Appropriation Budget of NEPZA to Nigeria Special Economic Zones Company. This is a breach of the 2017 Appropriation Act”, she said.
In response to the allegation, the Minister of Trade and Investment, said that the money was not eventually released to the company, but was still in the custody of the Central Bank of Nigeria.