…Calls For Review, Investigation Of Ministry of Interior’s Contract with CONTEC
The upper chamber of the National Assembly has threatened to sanction heads of some revenue-generating agencies of the federal government if they fail to appear before the Senate Joint Committee on Finance and National Planning on Thursday (today) to defend their positions as contained in the 2021-2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework And Fiscal Strategy Paper, MTEF/FSP after being duly invited.
This is even as the Senate called for the review and investigation of the contract entered into by the Ministry of Interior with Continental Transfert Technique Limited (CONTEC) for combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Alien Card (CERPAC), which has been robbing the nation of billions of Naira on yearly basis since 2007, adding that the company has been collecting 55 per cent from every Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Alien Card (CERPAC) fee paid by non-Nigerian to the Nigerian Immigration Service.
The threat to sanction the heads of agencies was made by the Chairman of the Senate’s joint committee on Finance and National Planning, Senator Solomon Adeola (APC, Lagos West), while presiding at the beginning of a Five-Day Public Hearing on the 2021-2023 MTEF/FSP, which saw some heads of the agencies not appearing at all or sending in officers that cannot speak on revenue figures of their agencies with any authority.
He said: “The 2021-2023 MTEF/FSP was sent to the Senate on July 20 for consideration by President Mohammadu Buhari preparatory to the presentation of the 2021 Appropriation Bill.
“In line with the desire to achieve early passage of the budget to be in tandem with the January-December budget cycle, the Senate referred the MTEF/FSP to the joint Committee for consideration even while members are on recess.
“Consequently, any head of agencies that refused to appear before the Committee to defend figures it submitted as presented by the President to the Senate risks a zero allocation in the incoming budgets among other penalties.”
Among the agencies specifically mentioned at the Wednesday sitting by the committee whose heads are to appear unfailingly before it on Thursday, are Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority, Executive Vice Chairman of Nigeria Communication Commission, Executive Secretary of Nigeria Shippers Council, Director General of Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency ( NIMASA) etc .
The committee had before the threat issued against heads of the absentee agencies, vowed to make the Senate carry out full blown investigation into alleged fraudulent contract the Ministry of Interior signed with CONTEC in 2007 on Residence permit for expatriates .
The members of the committee were angry with submissions made by the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Mohammed Babandede that CONTEC through the lopsided contract agreement, cornered a whopping N15billion out of N20 billion realised in 2018 and N23billion out of N40billion realised in 2019 .
He appealed to the Senate to checkmate the excesses of CONTEC which had several times sued the Nigerian Immigration Service while collecting exorbitant percentage for resident permit.
He said the Nigeria Immigration Service was already into discussion with the Ministry of Justice for necessary advice on the legal implications of the upward review of the resident permit fee from $1, 000 to $2, 000.
He said the Ministry of Justice is already looking at the modalities to pull out of the contract agreement .
It will be recalled that a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) , Femi Falana had in March last year dragged CONTEC and Nigeria Ministry of Interior to court for stoppage of the alleged fraudulent contract .
Falana had in the suit , challenged the constitutionality of the CERPAC contract to Contec as well as the upward review of the CERPAC fee from $1,000 to $2,000 last December
In Nigeria, CERPAC is mandatory for expatriates. It allows them to live and work in the country.
According to Falana as stated in the suit, “To ‘fix and collect’ CERPAC fee is a statutory responsibility of the Nigeria Immigration Service in line with sections 20 and 37 of the Immigration Act.”
