Reps probe customs over petroleum products seizure

 Reps check into customs regarding the seizure of petroleum products

Members of the house of  representative

The Nigeria Customs Service has been ordered to furnish information on Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) that has been seized and sold at auction by the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on the Volume of Fuel Consumed Daily in Nigeria.

Col. Hameed Ali (ret. ), the Comptroller-General of the NCS, said before the committee on Wednesday that the agency required a court order in order to auction petroleum products other than gasoline.

The Deputy Comptroller-General (Enforcement, Investigation, and Inspection), Etim Edorhe, who was Ali's representative, revealed this in response to inquiries about imported petroleum products being smuggled into nearby nations.

According to him, it is quite simple for people to assume that anything entering the country was smuggled out. The issue of smuggling or not smuggling may not be covered in the (written presentation) I've given you, but I've just chosen to take records of petroleum products that we seized and that were attempted to be moved out across the country from January to December 2021 because I saw the direction this discussion is going.

Therefore, customs is not wringing its hands; we are working. Borders are present, and a joint border patrol is in operation. Yes, we do intercept these products every day as they try to leave; some of them are in tankers, some of  them first in jerry cans, then in drums. And some of these smugglers are so clever that they conceal petroleum products in polymer bags from view. But every day we take them. Whatever approach they choose, we are always in front. As I previously mentioned, I made notes about what occurred in 2021, which I will now provide you. 2,278,297 liters in total, with duty paid value of N501,514,178,692.50, were intercepted in 2021.

The head of NCS insisted, however, that a court injunction is not necessary before the seized petroleum products may be auctioned.

"Due to the potential of a fire on the premises, you don't store combustible products when you intercept them. Therefore, these artifacts are auctioned off and the the money paid in to federal account.

Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, a committee member, said the investigation into the seizures and actions was necessary "so we can assure the public that these things were appropriately managed."

In his judgement, Abdulkadir Abdullahi, the chairman of the committee, ruled that "the commodity confiscated, the auctions, the payments, and the auctioneers and those who acquired (the auctioned petroleum goods) should be made available to us. We want to look at these things critically and positively, thus we don't want to leave any stone unturned. He arrived with a list of the things that had been confiscated, but he didn't deliver it to us in an organized manner. I thus request that he send it to us so that we can double-check it. He might want to offer that.

The customs chief responded, "I am  I'll give it to you, and I'll return with the amount from 2015 to 2021. You'll get it from me.

"You also posed a question regarding determining the products prior to their distribution and must be condemned by a court of competent jurisdiction," he continued. That is the custom.

He did point out that there was an exception for flammable materials, and that non-flammable products were only taken in response to a court order. You cannot store inflammable (items) because they are flammable, he said.

The committee's chairman instructed the clerk to write the Comptroller-General of the NCS and request that he "provide us the entire details of the products seized, auctioned, the auctioneers, and the auction results."

Abdullahi continued, "As of February, the actual landing cost (of PMS) is estimated to be between between $400 and $480. The global market has an impact on the subsidies. The subsidy increases when crude oil prices rise on the global market. Then, if you want to impress us, go even further and provide us with the current crude oil price. But first, give us the volume (of gasoline consumed daily).