There is disquiet at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment over plans to divert the sum of N14.37bn from the budget of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority to the Nigeria Special Economic Zone Investment Company Limited.
The N14.37bn is being planned to be diverted from the N48.2bn budget of NEZPA as approved by the National Assembly for the 2017 fiscal period. The Federal Executive Council had on June 27, 2018, approved the transfer of the N14.37bn to NSEZCO account. The Federal Government had set up NSEZCO as a vehicle for participating in Public-Private Partnerships involving Federal and State governments and local and foreign private investors to develop new Special Economic Zones all over the country.
The projects in the pilot phase include Enyimba Economic City, Funtua Cotton Cluster and Lekki Model Industrial Park. Top government officials confided in our correspondent that it was unlawful for the N14.37bn to be appropriated to NSEZCO for the development of special economic zones as the mandate for such development was the responsibility of NEPZA.
One of the officials in the ministry of industry, trade and investment told our correspondent in confidence that it was wrong to allocate funds to NSEZCO as it was a private entity not created by an Act of parliament.
The official said, “One of the factors to be considered is the legal status of NSEZCO as the name appears to be a private limited liability company registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act with the Corporate Affairs Commission. “It is not a creation of any Act of the National Assembly and regardless of whom the shareholder may be, it remains a private limited company. “It is; therefore, wrong to contemplate that the National Assembly would appropriate funds to a private limited company to execute national projects.”
Further investigations by our correspondent showed that the approval of the fund by FEC might have been given in error as there was no budgetary provision for such amount to be transferred to NSEZCO in the 2018 budget. Further findings revealed that the Senate Committee on Trade and Investment had, in a bid to stop the withdrawal, written to the Accountant General of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris, stopping the amount to be released to NSEZCO.
It was learnt that the committee headed by Senator Sani Mohammed had also written to the Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, asking that the fund should be released only to NEPZA and not NSEZCO. In the letter dated January 8, 2019, with reference NASS/S/C/T/I/M/I/19/1, the Senate Committee stated that it observed the irregularities during its oversight tour of NEPZA.
The letter, which was received in the minister’s office on January 9, read in part, “The committee noted that NEPZA as a Federal Government agency had the legal authority to execute all capital projects concerning free zones in Nigeria. “The N48.21bn budgeted for NEPZA capital projects in the 2017 appropriation is not an intervention fund. “The June 27, 2018 approval of the FEC was given in error. The N14.37bn appropriated for NEPZA in the 2017 appropriation Act, which was withheld (should) be released to the agency to enable it to implement its constitutional responsibilities without further delay.” Punch
