Chairman, House Committee on Services, Hon Yakubu Dogara
By Onwuka Nzeshi
The House of Representatives Wednesday was told that Nigeria had lost a whopping N276, 943,087,154.09 in eight years due to indiscriminate granting of waivers, exemptions and concessions by the Federal Government.
The revelation came through a motion sponsored by Chairman, House Committee on Services, Hon Yakubu Dogara, in which he expressed worries that the practice of granting waivers by the executive arm of government indiscriminately amounted to Executive Appropriation contrary to Sections 80 and 162 of the 1999 Constitution.
He said available records show that between 2000 and 2008, the Federal Government entered into about 183 undertakings with individuals and corporate entities granting them waivers, concessions and exemptions running into billions of naira that ought to have accrued to the Federation Account as revenue.
Dogara lamented that the practice of illegal and indiscriminate granting of waivers to “totally undeserving firms and individuals” was yet to abate in spite of repeated resolutions of the House urging government to put a stop to the practice.
He urged the House to mandate its Committee on Customs and Excise as well as the Committee on Finance to carry out a comprehensive investigation of the legality or otherwise of all existing waivers, exemptions and concessions granted by the Federal Government since 2009.
The motion, which was co-sponsored by 15 other lawmakers, also urged the Federal Government to revoke all existing waivers, concessions and exemptions that were not backed by extant laws or protocols pending the outcome of the investigation. The motion was passed without a single dissenting voice.
Also yesterday, a Bill seeking to repeal the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Act and establish the Nigeria Free Zones Authority passed through second reading and was referred to the House Committee on Commerce. The proposed legislation, its sponsors said, would enable Nigeria to reform its policy on free trade zones so as to benefit maximally from the concept.
The Bill for an Act to establish a National Centre for Research, Management and Control of Autism, Down syndrome and related issues also passed second reading and was referred to the Committee on Health.