Okonjo-Iweala suspends pact, Adoke disowns deal
Reps panel summons finance minister
Customs alleges non-inclusion in scheme
THE investigation of a single window goods clearing at the nation's gateways by the House of Representatives yesterday took a dramatic twist as the Federal Government abruptly announced the immediate suspension of the concession agreement.
But the House Ad-hoc Committee probing the alleged irregularities in the concession agreement between the Federal Ministry of Finance and a Single Window System firm, insisted that its investigation would not stop despite the decision to suspend the agreement.
The single window system "is a trade facilitation idea, which enables international (cross-border) traders to submit regulatory documents at a single location and/or single entity. Such documents are typically customs declarations, applications for import/export permits, and other supporting documents such as certificates of origin and trading invoices.
"The main value proposition for having a single window for a country or economy is to increase the efficiency through time and cost savings for traders in their dealings with various government authorities for obtaining the relevant clearance and permit(s) for moving cargoes across national or economic borders.
"In essence, it is a facility that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardised information and documents with a single entry point to fulfill all import, export, and transit-related regulatory requirements."
At the resumed public hearing on the matter at the National Assembly, the panel frowned at the absence of the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and invoked sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution to summon her to appear before it today.
Its Chairman, Leo Ogor, who read the letter sent by Okonjo-Iweala to announce the suspension of the concession agreement, stated that the letter would not stop the panel from investigating the deal.
Titled: "Re: Single window concession," the letter, dated September 12, 2011 and signed by the Finance Minister read: "I want to apologise for my inability to attend the last public hearing on the above. I would like to inform you that by the leave of Mr. President, I have suspended the Single Window Project in deference to the concerns of the National Assembly.
"Mr. President has asked me to look into the processes that led to the award with a view to addressing the important issues raised by your committee. I will revert to you in due course with the outcome of this enquiry. Thank you for your understanding."
Reacting to the letter, the Deputy Leader insisted that the House will not be deterred from carrying out its responsibility as a parliament. His words: "On this issue we are not going back so long as it is in the interest of the nation. This exercise is about national interest. At the end, we will make the system work.''
He said the National Assembly is a separate arm of government with its responsibility and resolution of the House. "The Minister of Finance has refused to appear before this committee as far as we are concerned. An investigation by the Ministry of Finance will in no way deter this House from carrying out its own constitutional responsibility. I am therefore resting on sub-sections 88 and 89 of the Nigerian Constitution to summon the minister to appear before this committee to explain the process that led to award of this contract.
"We lay emphasis on due process...whatever investigation they carry out in the ministry is their internal business. It is important that she appears before this committee tomorrow (today) at noon unfailingly."
Members of the committee insisted that the suspension of the contract by the ministry was untimely and immaterial to the House probe.
Also, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Muhammed Bello Adoke (SAN) denied knowledge of the transaction, pointing out that the document was unknown to his office.
Represented by Mrs. Chidinma Ukelonu, Adoke said: "The office does not have the document. So, there is nothing we can say about it at the moment. It is true that the agreement ought to have been routed through the Federal Ministry of Justice."
The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nde Dikko, told the committee that the agency was not carried along in the conception and execution of the concession.
Represented by AbdulKadir Azaerema, the Customs boss said: "The Service only got notification about the agreement between the Federal Government and the Single Window Systems and Technology Limited through an official document that the company has been appointed to handle the single window operation."
Dikko presented documents to show the preparation, which the Service had already made towards the attainment of the single window system for the country."
He stated that the NCS has the capacity to handle the project, pointing out that over 8,000 officials had been trained for the implementation of the project under the modernisation of Nigeria Customs, which started since 1999.
In the power sector, it seems the days of mistrust between gas suppliers and the government over the supply of the product to electricity generation plants are over. Reason: The World Bank has assured of its commitment to giving credit backing to such suppliers to enable them meet their obligations to the generation companies.
Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, who spoke at this year's "Nigeria power expo and conference" in Abuja yesterday, recalled that the World Bank before now agreed to a partial risk guarantee for such suppliers of gas to ensure that it does not hamper Nigeria's power sector reform.
Giving an update on the reforms in the sector, the minister said: "We have done some things to ensure that this transition period would work. During this transition period, we have set up the Bulk Electricity Trading Company of Nigeria, which, we call the bulk trader and this bulk trader is going to sign power purchase agreements and would be the vehicle to provide credit support through the World Bank providing partial risk guarantee.
"The intention is to ensure that the power producers are comfortable selling power to distribution companies now."
Nnaji said he had held a meeting with the World Bank on the gas component of it, so that there is credit support for gas supply to power companies.
He also spoke on the controversial estimated billing usually given to electricity consumers by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). He assured that the practice would stop as soon as government concludes its reform of the power sector.
He said: "The issue of metering is very critical for the power sector because it ensures that people are metered for the power they consume or that they are able to purchase power that they should consume.
"We will provide a guide as to what a meter should have, like the prepaid meter, how it should generally operate. We are not going to prescribe which company will provide it, which is something that used to happen, thereby channelling the companies to purchase from specific firms."
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the power sector have identified the poor power supply system in Nigeria as part of the challenges of effective security in the country.
The stakeholders, who spoke at the expo, regretted that power supply in the country had not witnessed significant improvement over the years.
The chairman of the organising committee of the programme, Mr. Ifeanyichukwu Agwu, stressed that the nation could effectively solve the problems of insecurity and poverty with adequate power supply.
With about nine years to the "golden year 2020" when Nigeria hopes to be ranked amongst the best 20 economies of the world, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Financial System Strategy 2020 (FSS 2020) is reviewing the implementation framework for the financial sector reforms aimed at realizing the financial services industry's vision for the Vision 20:2020.
The apex bank's Deputy Governor for Corporate Services, Alhaji Suleiman Barau, told journalists yesterday in Abuja that the review, which is a balanced scorecard execution framework for the plan, was designed to drive the alignment and accountability to results.
Barau said the review, which begins today will be driven by Dr. Robert Kaplan of the Harvard Business School and Palladium Group Inc.
He said: "The Vision of FSS2020 is to be the safest and fastest growing financial systems amongst emerging markets and the mission is to drive rapid and sustainable economic growth primarily in Nigeria and Africa.
"To achieve this vision and mission, there is need to sharpen our strategy execution focus, hence this event."
A workshop is billed for the last day as a platform for other FSS 2020 implementing agencies and institutions to consider how to align FSS 2020 strategy programme across the entire financial system.
The CBN will also take advantage of Dr. Kaplan's visit, a co-founder of Balanced Scorecard with Dr. David Norton, to review its strategy and implementation process with a view to getting relevant business units to key into the process.
The Guardian