The Forum of Non-Governmental Organisations in Nigeria, FONGON, has tasked President Muhammadu Buhari to come clean on the Nigeria Customs Modernisation Project, known as the E- Customs Project, worth $3.1 billion which was recently re-awarded by the Federal Government to a different company despite a subsisting court order.
The organization asked President Buhari to stop the hasty attempt to access hundreds of billions of Naira from the Comprehensive Import Service Scheme/Nigeria Export Supervision Scheme, CISS/NESS, accounts of the Customs Service by Trade Modernisation Project Limited.
The National Coordinator, FONGON, Comrade Wole Badmus at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday said: “President Muhammadu Buhari must come clean on this by informing Nigerians if Hameed Ali has his consent to hijack a project in favour of Trade Modernisation Project Ltd, a company registered in April, 2022, and which never participated in the negotiations on E-Customs Modernisation Project which started as far back as 2015.”
Badmus also alleged that the Nigeria Customs Service had already written to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning requesting the new concessionaire, Trade Modernisation Project Limited, to be included on the payment platform to commence draw down on the CISS/NESS accounts in clear violation of the presidential directive.
“The clear implication is that the so-called new concessionaire will make no investment but depend on the CISS/NESS account”, the organization said.
The E-Customs Project is a Public-Private-Partnership concession aimed at easing the cost of doing business, boosting revenue, enhancing productivity and security as well as stopping arbitrariness in income assessment.
FONGON recalled that the DG ICRC in a letter to the Chief of Staff to the President dated 22 May, 2019 provided a succinct framework and financial plan for the project, saying: “The Private partners to the project will raise the required financing for the project through contributions from the Promoters Equity, Loans and Vendor Financing from all Original Equipment Manufacturers including Huawei.
“The proposed Financing Plan for the project shows that the project will be financed through $30million equity and $270m debt financing in Phase 1, while $180m will the Capital Structure for Phase 2, years 7 to 12.
“The third and final phase of the project will be financed through retained earnings and excess cash flows”.
Badmus said the organization was alarmed that this clause was not reflected on the concession agreement signed by Trade Modernization Project Ltd as document in court shows.
“The HMOF and AGF simply looked the other way in order to allow TMPL access to the CISS/NESS accounts without showing evidence of commensurate investments done as envisaged by the financial plan drawn by ICRC. It was simply replaced with a clause to access the CISS/NESS account from date of commencement,” he said.
President Buhari had in 2019 approved the engagement of the consortium Bionica Technologies, West Africa, Limited, Lead Sponsor; Bergmans Security Consultant and Supplies Limited, Co-sponsor; Africa Finance Corporation, Lead Financier; and Huawei as Lead Technical Service Provider to establish a project SPV to enter a 20-year concession arrangement with Nigerian Customs Service and Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC, for Customs Modernisation Project.
However, Badmus alleged that the FEC at a meeting in April 2023 said that Trade Modernisation Project Limited, registered in April 2022 and which never participated in the negotiations on E-Customs Modernisation Project which started as far back as 2015, was the new concessionaire.
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