The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to investigate the suspended Managing Director, MD, of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman, who is a Mentee of the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, over her alleged looting of N165 billion, .
The Minority Caucus made the call in a statement signed on Monday, by the Minority Leader of the House of Reps., Honourable Ndudi Elumelu.
It insisted that such huge economic crime against the country should not be left to an administrative Panel of Inquiry, but committed to an anti-graft Agency for an independent investigation.
It therefore, asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to immediately “take in the indicted Managing Director, and commence a system-wide investigation, with a view to prosecuting her, if found wanting”.
The statement read in part: “Our Caucus holds that the mere suspension of the indicted Managing Director of the NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman, and the resort to an administrative panel of enquiry even after the report by the Supervising Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, exposed an unremitted and possibly diverted operating surplus of N165 billion, amounts romancing and perfuming corruption by the APC-led Federal Government.
“The Minority Caucus also believes that the recourse to an administrative instead of a full-scale criminal investigation can only serve as a decoy to shield some other APC government officials involved in the looting spree at NPA and other affiliated agencies in the transport sector.
“This is because, apart from the unremitted N165 billion cited by the Minister, other documents and reports from the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation had also uncovered several sleazes, including unremitted deduction to Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) amounting to N3,667,750,470. $148,845,745.04, Euro 4,891,449.50 and £252,682.14.
“This is in addition to audit query of N15.18 billion allegedly stolen through inflated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects/programmes under the watch of the suspended NPA Managing Director.
“As representatives of the suffering people of Nigeria, our Caucus is particularly very worried that such monumental lootings are going on at a time terrorists, bandits, unknown gunmen, and criminal militias are reigning supreme across the length and breadth of the country and life has consequently become the cheapest article in the country.”
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