Posted by By PATRICK ASONYE, JOSSY IDAM & MARTINS NWANNA on
President Umaru Yar'Adua may just have found out that the Import Duty waiver extended to an Indian company by his predecessor in office is being abused to the detriment of the national economy.
• Pockets N111m in one transaction
President Umaru Yar'Adua may just have found out that the Import Duty waiver extended to an Indian company by his predecessor in office is being abused to the detriment of the national economy.
His attention has only been drawn to the scandal in a petition by a Lagos-based group - Citizens United Against Fraud and Corruption.
For whatever consideration, former President Olusegun Obasanjo had, while in office, granted the Indian company - African Steel Mills (Nig) Limited - import duty waiver.
But when he assumed office, Yar'Adua reportedly cancelled some of the waivers including African Steel's.
The company was said to have made a case for revalidation of the waiver, citing a factory expansion project as reason for seeking the waiver in the first place.
And Yar'Adua, believing that it would create jobs, reportedly granted the request.
But today, the anti-corruption group is crying foul, insisting that African Steel is bleeding the country dry through the waiver it described as dubious.
Sunday Sun is in possession of the group's petition addressed to the President, copying the governor of Central Bank, the Minister of Finance, Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and related offences Commission (ICPC) and the Comptroller General of Customs.
Information pieced together by Sunday Sun reveal that African Steel Mills (Nigeria) Limited, at different times, imported several ship loads of steel and cleverly evaded paying required import duties.
From vital document exclusively obtained by Sunday Sun, most of the shipment came into the country from Ukraine last month. The supply were loaded and dispatched to Tin Can Port, Lagos from Odessa Seaport in Belgium.
But if the allegation of other industry operators is anything to go by, African Steel has deviated from its original claim.
'When they import these materials, they divert a chunk to a sister company with its depot around Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos. From there, they sell in the open market,' alleged local players in the steel industry.
Consequently, the petitioners wrote: 'However, it is painful to know that your Excellency's laudable step which is sure to garner more revenue for the Federal Government is being frustrated by a group of people who insist on living in the ugly past.'
Situated at Plot 337, Ikorodu Industrial Area, Lagos, African Steel Mills (Nig) Limited, imported 4,000 metric tons without paying a kobo as import duty to the government.
Shipping documents obtained by Sunday Sun reveal that the supply arrived Nigeria aboard MV East Gate on four bills of lading numbered 8220ODE/LAG-01 to 04. The document is dated June 14, 2008.
Maritime operators say that under normal circumstances, African Steel ought to have paid 20 per cent duty (N80million); seven per cent surcharge on duty (N5.6million) and five per cent VAT (N24.56million) amounting to N110.6million.
But documentary evidence reveal that the company paid a paltry N5.6million, scheming off about N104.56million, in a transaction that reeks of scam.
A concerned maritime operator suggested that if so much revenue was lost to a foreign company in a single import transaction, 'it is only left to imagination what the country has been losing to these kinds of entrepreneurs…'
When Sunday Sun visited the company at Ikorodu, the Chief Security Officer of the company declined to talk. Rather, he said: 'None of our mangers is here. This place is only a factory. Go to Eleganza Plaza, Apapa. That's where you will see people who will talk to you.'
At the Eleganza Plaza in Apapa Sunday Sun fruitlessly searched for the company.
In fact, there is no signpost or sticker indicating where African Steel is. Security men at the complex said they have neither heard of the company nor seen any of its staff.
At the clearing agency of Super Maritime Nigeria Limited, presumably the agent that cleared the consignment, also in Apapa, a man who claims to be the Import Manager was simply rude to Sunday Sun reporter. 'Mr. Man, I don't care what you are investigating or where that takes you to. You can write whatever you please; I am not responsible to you. If you like take your investigation to the highest level of customs, that's your business.'
However, a source in the maritime sector told Sunday Sun that African Steel Mills (Nig.) Limited is not the only steel company in the country involved in the import waiver racket.
The source further alleged that some highly placed businessmen in the country and custom officials are part of the racket.
A senior customs officer, however, denied the allegation linking their personnel with the scandal.
'I doubt if any customs officer worth his onion would connive with an importer, least of all a foreign company, to deny the government revenue. Like I said, no sensible customs officer would risk his career for a meal of pottage,' he argued.
Instead, he suggested that there was a strong probability that the waiver granted African Steel Mills might have been extended by the Yar'Adua administration. But that could not also be verified.
Also, a source at the EFCC was not in a position to categorically say if the agency is currently investigating African Steel.