House of Rep Members vow to arrest Customs CG over N250m alleged fraud

A committee set up by the House of Representatives to probe why the service paid the sum of N250 million to a firm as commission for insurance cover, has threatened to issue arrest warrant against the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Hameed Ali.

The committee said this following the non-appearance of Ali to explain the deal in question.

The ad-hoc committee probing the allegation chaired by Rep Adekunle Abdulkabir Akinlade (APC, Ogun) had summoned Ali.

But for the second time, the CG did not appear in person on Friday.

He, however, sent an assistant comptroller general in charge of head resource development, Austin Warikoru to represent him and also provide the requested details.

But the committee sent Warikoru back and told him to inform his boss that he must appear in person on Monday November 14.

The panel said if he fails to show up this time, it would issue a warrant on him.

Abdulkabir, who warned Ali not to take the threat lightly, disclosed that the panel also uncovered 57 other irregularities in payment of millions of naira allegedly by Customs to “non-existent insurance firms.”

The committee had last week said that the N250million commission on insurance cover was paid to Fortis Insurance.

The firm however denied any such transaction with Customs. Managing director of the firm, Lawrence Dafiode said in a letter to the panel that the firm was duly licensed in 2010 contrary to information available to the committee.