A seasoned economist, Musa Audu-Abubakar, has raised the alarm over alleged illegalities taking place at the Nigerian Export Processing Zone Authority’s (NEPZA) Free Trade Zone in Kano State, leading to loss of billions of Naira in revenue due to Federal Government.
Audu-Abubakar, who raised the alarm while speaking with select journalists on Tuesday in Kano, lamented that at a time when the country was battling with economic instability, finished goods were being diverted to the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in Kano for clearance.
According to the expert, the alleged illegality was taking place under the watch of some unpatriotic officers of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).
He said: “Some businessmen are in the habit of diverting finished products to Nigerian Export Processing Zone Authority because they pay as little as 30% of the customs duty while the government lose billions in revenue.
“They pay as little as 30% of customs duty payable at the Kano Free Trade Zone, while they don’t pay sometimes because they settle the customs officers on duty.
“This is affecting the economy. The government is losing billions of naira until the needful is done,” he stated.
He noted that the Nigerian Export Processing Zone Authority (NEPZA)/Kano Free Trade Zone, which is located at the Fanisau area of Ungogo local government area of Kano State, is solely responsible for clearing raw materials, not finished products.
“Taking finished products to the agency for clearance is illegal and against the law,” the expert emphasised.
“The last time I visited the Nigerian Export Processing Zone Authority, I saw that not less than 10 containers of finished products were being cleared in the evening. The question is what brought finished goods to the Nigerian Export Processing Zone?,” he quizzed.
Audu-Abubakar, therefore, called on the federal government to deploy its enforcement mechanisms with a view to ensuring that all finished goods go through the appropriate channels for clearances and not FTZs.
“The federal government needs to act fast and enforce regulations so that anyone found guilty of sabotaging the effort of the government in generating deserved revenue will be dealt with,” he added.
