The House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise has threatened to invoke a warrant of arrest on the Managing Director of eTranzact International Plc if he fails to appear before it on the date to be fixed by the panel.
At its sitting on Wednesday, the committee accused the company of “colluding with some banks to cheat” the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
Chairman of the committee, Leke Abejide, while speaking at the hearing on Wednesday, said, “We have been asking this e-Transact to give us information, and they have been failing. I am using this medium to advise the Managing Director of eTranzact to honour the invitation of this house otherwise we will not have any option than to take the necessary legal action against him, and this can include getting him arrested. We are not on our own; we were elected by the people and to work for the country.
“We discovered that he colluded with some banks and cheated the Nigeria Customs Service of several billions of naira. For him to come and explain how this happens, it becomes difficult. This is the last chance we are giving him.”
The committee also threatened to exclude Ecobank Plc from the list of commercial banks that collect revenue for the NCS over non-remittance of N4.3 billion revenue.
Abejide said the committee’s mandate is to block revenue leakages and ensure that all remittances are duly paid to the federal government.
However, in reaction to the threat by the lawmakers, eTranzact issued a statement on Thursday denied collecting duties on behalf of Customs. It also denied receiving invitation to appear before the committee.
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