[b[b]]‘Nigeria wastes N50b yearly on fake products’[/b]



THE proposed investigation by the House of Representatives into a revenue facilitation concession agreement between the Federal Government and a firm, Single Window System, failed to hold yesterday.

The probe was ordered by the House last July after adopting a motion sponsored by a member, Dogara Yakubu, in which it was claimed that Nigeria would lose some $30 billion as a result of the replacement of the single window system firms by a new one called Single Window System and Technology Limited (SWST). But lack of appropriate document practically halted the conduct of the investigative hearing which was to begin yesterday and last for five days.

Meanwhile, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has said Nigeria may be losing over N50 billion yearly to the importation of sub-standard products.

Exactly four years ago, the same House of Representatives conducted an inconclusive investigation into alleged $16 billion power expenditure fraud between 1999 and 2007.

The drama started yesterday immediately after Speaker Aminu Tambuwal declared the public investigative hearing opened.[/b]The exercise was to begin in earnest when the Ad-Hoc Committee investigating the alleged irregularities in the concession agreement between the Finance Ministry and the revenue facilitation company, SWST, announced its inability to get the required documents to sustain the investigation.

Chairman of the ad-hoc committee and Deputy Leader of the House of Representatives, Leo Ogor, then said: “This public hearing cannot continue as planned because the document we expected from the Ministry of Finance could not be obtained. The Ministry of Finance as the main hob in the agreement was not able to make the required document available. This public hearing has to be put off until Monday when we expect that the document would be available.”

Other stakeholders in the probe expressed dismay that the Ogor-led committee could not obtain independently, the document, instead depended on the ministry which it was set up to investigate.

Ogor, in defence of the committee, stated that the panel was trying to be fair by asking the ministry to submit documents.

In his speech earlier, Tambuwal explained the essence of the investigation, saying: “This legislative inquiry is in line with the transformation agenda and anti-corruption campaign of the Federal Government of Nigeria and responds directly to the yearnings of our people. This House fully subscribes to the transformation agenda of Mr. President and realises that the promises of transformation may not be realised if the nation’s financial base is weak. Therefore, ensuring optimal revenue earnings from our public assets is a sine qua non to the success of Mr. President’s transformation agenda.”

According to the Speaker, “the objectives of this public hearing include – to determine the due process credentials of all activities leading up to the concession and the management of the concession thereafter in the areas of:

• Compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations;

• Procurement of requisite approvals, permits and consents;

• Compliance with the principles of openness, fairness, economy, efficiency, among others, in dealing with public assets; and

• Conformity with global benchmark practices for similar transactions.

The Dogara motion had claimed that the country stood to lose over $30 billion.

It said: “For the next 15 to 20 years, Single Window Systems and Technology Limited, a company which allegedly lack official address, will operate a new National Single Window (NSW) platform - a crucial technology-based import and export documentation services, which already exists and for which the government has spent N300 billion.”

Lawmakers alleged that the job of revenue facilitation is primarily that of the Nigeria Customs Service but was given to the firm in a non-transparent process that totally breached procurement rules, and would tremendously hurt the economy.

“When we start taxing exports for our kind of economy, it will kill manufacturing and destroy jobs,” Dogara said.

The Guardian learnt that “the Single Window System is a trade facilitation idea which enables international (cross-border) traders to submit regulatory documents at a single location and/or single entity. Such documents are typically Customs declarations, applications for import/export permits, and other supporting documents such as certificates of origin and trading invoices.

“The main value proposition for having a Single Window for a country or economy is to increase the efficiency through time and cost savings for traders in their dealings with various government authorities for obtaining the relevant clearance and permit(s) for moving cargoes across national or economic borders.”

In essence, it is a facility that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardised information and documents with a single entry point to fulfill all import, export, and transit-related regulatory requirements.

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria had said that over 90 per cent of contents of containers seized at the nation’s seaports has been identified to be fake and adulterated goods. Their market value is put at N200 billion. Fake spare parts top the list with a market value of over N20 billion.

Other sub-standard goods reportedly imported from Dubai, China and other Asian countries include electronics, assorted baby milk, tyres, cigarettes, helmets, generators, pressure vessels, gas tanks and cylinders and dry cell lithium vehicle batteries.

The Director, SON, Charles Okoro, told The Guardian at the weekend that the country is presently wasting its resources through destruction of substandard products.

He said that it would take the efforts of the government, importers and consumers to put an end to the influx and patronage of substandard products in the country.

Representing the Director-General of SON, Dr. Joseph Odumodu at Academy for Entrepreneurial Studies (AES) Excellence Club’s monthly business luncheon at the weekend in Lagos, Okoro said SON is committed to its standardisation policy as part of the strategies aimed at ensuring and promoting competitiveness of made-in-Nigeria products.

In a paper titled: “Positioning Nigerian goods and services for global competitiveness”, he stressed that it is in the best interest of the country for standards to be maintained at the levels of production of goods and materials used by the populace.

According to him, as part of the reforms the present administration is prosecuting to make life meaningful for the citizens, the Council and Management of SON have resolved not to relent in their efforts of maintaining standards of goods produced in the country, hence the introduction of Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP).

Okoro disclosed that the certificate is also aimed at protecting consumers from locally-manufactured sub-standard products, which do not meet the minimum requirements of relevant Nigeria Industrial Standard (NIS), thereby generating confidence that made-in-Nigeria products could provide value for money.

He maintained that MANCAP was also designed to protect genuine manufacturers against unhealthy trade practices, counterfeiting and unfair competition in the market place and to encourage investment. He urged the award recipient to continue to maintain standards as the certificate could be withdrawn if the company deviates from laid down standards.


THE GUARDIAN