Politics

Lawmakers begin probe of missing N14.8bn in Customs Service

Tuesday, December 17, 2019 at 7:18 AM by Nnenna Ibeh

- An alleged missing N14.8 billion in the Nigeria Customs Service has prompted a probe by the lawmakers of the House of Representatives

- Questions raised by the audit on the NCS include the finances of the service between 2013 and 2014 and the missing N14.8 billion

- Also, the comptroller general of the NCS, Hameed Ali said for several years, the service has not been audited by external auditor's

Members of the House of Representatives have begun an investigation into an alleged missing N14.8 billion at the Nigeria Customs Service.

The lawmakers on the committee of public accounts began the probe into the circumstances leading to the improper audit of the NCS accounts for years.

Daily Trust reports that the investigation by the committee followed a public hearing held on Monday, December 16, by the committee after a query by Nigeria's auditor-general office on the services' finances.

The fund Legit.ng gathered that questions raised by the audit include the finances of the service between 2013 and 2014 and the missing N14.8 billion.

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During the public hearing, the comptroller general of the NCS, Hameed Ali said for several years, the service has not been audited by external auditor's.

The CG represented by an officer in NCS's finance department, S I Ibrahim said there is currently no approval from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to engage their services.

“I want to tell this honourable Committee that as we speak, the Service has no audited accounts because we have no approval from the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, to engage external auditors," Ibrahim said.

He also informed the committee that prior to the introduction of the Treasury Single Accounts (TSA) 28 Commercial banks were collecting revenues on behalf of the NCS across Nigeria.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that officials of the NCS had apprehended a man who strapped rice on his body to cross the border.

The NCS in a post shared on Facebook, a customs official could be seen cutting off the sellotape from the body of the unidentified man.