The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Services (NCS) Abdullahi Dikko and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi yesterday traded words over exemption of Customs from inspecting imported petroleum products in Nigeria.
The two government establishments disagreed over circulars exempting petroleum products from the list of items Customs collects import duties on while speaking before the investigative panel of the House of Representatives chaired by Rep Faruok Lawan (PDP, Kano) yesterday.
CBN Deputy Governor, Operations, Mr. Tunde Lemo said the CBN as an institution never wrote to stop Customs from collecting duties. "We at CBN do not have the authority to stop the Customs from inspection of products," Lemo insisted.
But the Deputy Comptroller General of Customs, Mr. Julius Nwogwu, who represented the Comptroller General, said that "the circulars came from the Federal Ministry of Finance and the CBN on 7th July, 2004 directing us not to examine petroleum products when all imports are guided by the destination regime and this was unfortunately not backed by any legislation."
"We contested that the circular issued then that petrol should be exempted from duties, let them check their documents it was documented and what transpired then was different from what the president approved."
On his part, Lemo had argued that "whatever circular that mandated such a waiver was not by the bank as an institution but by an inter-agency secretariat set up by the bank and the Customs was adequately represented at the various meetings."
DailyTrust