- By Demola Atobaba
The Chairman, House of Representatives’ Committee on Delegated Legislation, Hon. Femi Bamisile, has regretted how Nigeria lost a humongous sum of N28 trillion through shady trade practices being allegedly committed by some private foreign and local companies in the country.
To arrest this dangerous economic drift, the representative of Gbonyin/Emure/Ekiti East federal constituency, tasked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nigerian Ports Authority, Customs service and other regulatory agencies, to be technologically- inclined to tackle these alleged cartels of economic sabotage.
Bamisile spoke on the floor of the Green Chamber, on Tuesday, while raising a motion of urgent public interest brought by the federal parliamentarian on the need to curtail the shady economic activities of some of the private companies.
In the motion brought pursuant to Order 8 rule 5 of the House, the former Ekiti Assembly Speaker, lambasted some Nigerians, who were working as syndicates to these foreign companies to rip the nation of economic benefit through tax evasion and other invidious acts.
He averred that in spite of the concerted efforts of government’s agencies to track activities in the private sector, that several foreign and local companies continued to contrive new and sophisticated schemes to cause hemorrhage to Nigerian economy through trade malpractices.
“In the last eight years Nigeria lost an estimated sum N 28 trillion to trade malpractices perpetrated by rogue foreign companies. Daily, hundreds of trade shady deals are carried out by foreign and local companies operating in the different sectors of Nigeria’s economy.
“The EFCC, customs, Nigerian ports Authority (NPA) and NIMASA can definitely not be at all places at the same time. In the maritime company alone, the volume of revenue diverted by foreign companies is about 40 times the revenue target of Nigerian Customs Service, this does not include the N6 trillion being lost annually to sophisticated tax avoidance scheme, according to FIRS, perpetrated by some foreign companies”, he stated.
Bamisile revealed that worst hit by this economic pillaging, was the Nigeria’s free trade zone, like the Oil and Gas sector, which he said makes the country’s revenue profile to plummet exponentially, saying Nigeria’s economy will further nosedive and ripped off, if this continues.
The former Chairman, House Committee on Federal Road Maintenance Agency(FERMA), stressed the expediency of urgent need for government to spearhead aggressive clampdown on the foreign companies and their local syndicates, to stem the tide of plundering of the nation’s economy and commonwealth.
He added: “They must have partners who call the shots and cover their tracks so as to avoid being caught.There is a need to investigate and ascertain the illegal economic trade malpractices being carried out in the private sector: foreign and local companies in Nigeria”.
Bamisile urged the House to set up a special investigating committee to recover, harness or prevent further loss of such magnitude of resource in a bid to enhance the overall country’s GDP and restore the economic viability of the nation.
“The investigative scope will be elastic to cover private sector activities, on land, sea and air.To Carry out its statutory oversight functions in an increasingly sophisticated private sector.To build a technical software tracker that cannot be easily by- passed, which will preempt the multiple trade malpractices scheme employed by their foreign companies”.
Bamisile suggested that a report must be submitted to the house of representatives after the whole process is concluded.
