E-Customs: Absence of Interior Minister, Comptroller General

By Gloria Ikibah

The House of Representatives has expressed displeasure at the refusal of Heads of government agencies to honour its invitation to appear before an investigative panel on the operations of the Nigeria Customs Service and management of the nation’s borders.

The House Committees on Customs and Excise and Interior had invited the Minister of Interior, Comptroller General of Customs, Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service and other stakeholders to the investigative hearing on the mordernisation of the Nigeria Customs Service.

Naijablitznews.com recalled that the House, at plenary on two occasions had ordered the committees to investigate the modernisation project of the Nigerian Customs Service (e-customs) concession to the Trade Mordenisation Project (TMP), role of Webb Fontaine in the E-Customs framework; the need to employ modern technology to secure Nigeria’s borders and address the challenges posed by illegal migration and border management.

However, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji Ojo was absent at the hearing and could not attend the session with the lawmakers, as they said he was out of the country, but no reason was given for the absence of the Comptroller General of Customs and his Immigration counterpart.

A committee member, Rep. Olumide Osoba was displeased at the absence of the Chief Executives, as stated in section 88 of the constitution gives the parliament power to invite any individual to appear before it to offer explanation, and added that in such instance, only the Chief Executives of the agencies are to appear before the parliament.

As a result of their absence,Rep. Osoba said the investigative hearing cannot be held as the representatives of the Chief Executives were not in a position to provide the answers being sought by the parliament.

Another member of the Committee on Customs, Rep. Awaji-Inombek Abiante asserted that the refusal of the Head of agencies to honour the committee’s invitation was an afront on the parliament, and that if they refuse to appear on the next adjourned date, the committee should invoke its powers and recommend their removal from office.

According to Rep. Abiante, their refusal to honour parliamentary invitation would mean that they are either tired of the job or incompetent to carry out their assigned duties.

In his ruling, Chairman Committee on Customs, Rep. Leke Abejide, emphasized that the investigative hearing on customs modernization focuses on enhancing government revenue, while the second aspect concerns national security.

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Rep. Abejide noted that despite the lawmakers’ tight schedules, they prioritized this national assignment. However, he stated that the investigative hearing would need to be rescheduled, preferably after the passage of the national budget and at a time when the key stakeholders can be present to address questions from the committee.

The Committee’s mandate includes probing the concession of customs operations to the Trade Modernisation Project and examining why Webb Fontaine, which has been overseeing the collection process, continues to manage the system.

They are also tasked with investigating the due diligence conducted in selecting the Trade Modernisation Project to take over e-customs operations from Webb Fontaine, assessing TMP’s performance under the concession, and reviewing the introduction of modern scanners aimed at expediting goods clearance processes.