Senate to publish names of firms in alleged N30tr scam

The Senate says it is set to publish names of companies found culpable in investigation into alleged N30 trillion revenue scam in the import and export value chain.

Chairman of the Joint Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff and Marine Transport Senator Hope Uzodinma made this known in an interview with reporters yesterday.

He said the committee had completed its first batch of investigation involving over 60 companies and would publish names of companies involved in various infractions leading to loss of government revenue.

He said the committee was releasing the names because it had established culpability against the companies.

Uzodinma added that the names to be published would contain details of how much of recoverable government revenue was with each of the companies.

The lawmaker stressed that companies found to be involved in infractions bothering on money laundering and foreign exchange abuses would be referred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for prosecution and recovery of the monies.

He added that those bothering on smuggling and import infractions would be referred to the Nigeria Customs Service for recovery of such revenues and possibly blacklisting.

Uzodinma said: “We got up to the point that even the companies themselves have seen that they are culpable and that is why we want to publish the names and hand them over to EFCC and Customs.

“The reason for the delay in publishing the names all the while is to establish culpability against the companies.

“Now through various reconciliations, it has been established and we are no longer in doubt, including the companies that are involved, that these things are in existence and that they are culpable.

“We have presented the interim report which detailed how much we have recovered so far and the Senate approved it in plenary, while an extension was given to us to do the final reconciliation.”