The House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, after he failed to honour the invitation of the House ad hoc committee probing alleged rice import duty evasion by some importers.
The House ad hoc committee is investigating allegations that some importers allegedly exceeded their import quotas and also refused to pay duties in excess of N3.5bn under a Federal Government import policy targeted at encouraging local production of rice.
Hon. Leo Ogor, who chairs the ad hoc committee, on Monday, expressed disappointed at the attitude of the minister despite the fact that the committee duly invited him.
He said: “This hearing was sequel to a resolution of the House mandating the ad hoc committee to investigate alleged fraud, abuses, evasion of import duties by rice importers.
“The aim is to uncover fraud and expose th
e endemic corruption in the importation of rice with a view to stemming the tide and boost employment generation as well as strengthen the nation’s depleting foreign reserve.
“The minister has no reason not to be here because the Ministry (of Agriculture) was duly served the invitation.
“I see no reason why people would be invited to a hearing that is for the benefit of the people and they will not turn up.
“You are a servant of the people just like we all are. What we are doing here is for the benefit of our nation’s economy. Before the end of the hearing, we are hoping to see people from the ministry come in, otherwise we may be forced to make some very strong pronouncements.”
According to the committee, there are complaints that the minister aided the non-payment of the duties by the importers, raising questions on the authority of the minister to grant such duty exemptions.
Ogor said: “The minister does not have the powers to allocate rice import or production quota to any company and then waive duties because the corresponding revenue involved is for the entire federation, which consists of the three tiers of government.
“The minister should stop deceiving himself thinking that he acts for every tier of government.”
One of the affected importers, Olam Farms Limited, said, in their submission before the committee that it was never aware of a government directive that it should pay duties for exceeding its import quota.
Speaking at the hearing, the company’s Business Development Head, Mr. Anil Nair, said as a major stakeholder in the sector, his firm knows the rules and would not deliberately breach any.
Nair however said his firm was willing to pay any duties calculated against it as outstanding.
“If you look at all the rice value chain, we have made up to date payment of duties and levies as applicable for which we made presentation previously. If we are asked to pay for the excess in importation, we will oblige and pay without any hesitation,” he told the committee.
Also at the hearing, the Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, confirmed the duty evasion, adding that the affected importers were asked to pay up after the import policy was reviewed by government.
The NCS’s team to the hearing was led by Mr. Adeoye Ajade.
The NCS’s team, led by Mr. Adeoye Ajade, also informed the committee that, “Olams’’ import was over 245,000 metric tonnes with excess quota, amounting to over N3.5bn, representing the duty liability arising from that importation.
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