Following a revelation that has been uncovered by the House of Representatives that N5 billion import duty waiver was illegally granted to a Chinese firm, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), by the Federal Government, the House has said that it would deploy all means within its power to ensure that the waiver given to the company and money refunded.
CHEC is involved in multibillion dollars road and port contracts in Nigeria. In 2017, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said it entered into a deal worth more than USD$86 million with CHEC to buy out the NPA’s remaining equity in the Lekki Deep Sea Port.
Chairman of the House Public Account Committee, Wole Oke, stated this during the investigative hearing into the audit query issued by the office of the Auditor-General of the Federation.
The Chinese company allegedly received a waiver worth over N5 billion for the importation of construction materials that are available in the country.
Oke wondered how a company with a share capital is N10million would be getting waiver of N5 billion.
“The China Harbour will pay back that N5 billion. We will collect our money back. We will engage the Customs, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and every other relevant agency to go and get our money back,” he said.
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