The House of Representatives ad hoc Committee investigating
non-remittance of stamp duties funds into the federation account has threatened
to issue bench warrant for arrest of Chief Executive Officers of banks and
other agencies that failed to appear before it.
The committee is investigating non-remittances of stamp
duties, amounting to trillions of naira into the federation account since 2010.
The decision was sequel to a unanimous adoption of a motion
by Rep. Adekunle Akinlabi (APM-Ogun) at a public hearing on Wednesday in Abuja.
The committee frowned at the absence of the CEOs and refused
to accept representatives outside the executive management cadre of the
organisations.
Akinlabi said that only three banks sent senior management
staff to honour the invitation of the committee.
He decried the absence of the CEOs, saying that the
investigation was very important and the CEOs who were saddled with the
responsibility of collecting taxes should take it seriously.
According to him, the CEOs were present when they wanted to
secure the business but have refused to appear for an investigative hearing.
Rep. Olowale Raji (APC-Lagos) described the absence of the CEOs as “an act of
irresponsibility.”
“When some of the CEOs receive invitation from parliament, they
treat it with levity, this is an insult on the house which we shall not allow,”
he said.
He said that the representatives sent by the CEOs who were
below the executive management cadre would be treated as spectators. Earlier,
the Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Abubakar Ahmed (APC-Gombe) said that the
committee was set up on April 25, 2019.
He said that the Stamp Duty Act gave powers to banks to
collect stamp duties and that the 1999 Constitution provided for the federation
account and the manner of withdrawal. Ahmed said that the house had received
reports, alleging irregularities in the collection of stamp duties amounting to
trillions of naira.
The chairman said that the house was concerned that money
collected was not being remitted to the federation account.
The legislator said that Civil Societies Organisations
(CSOs) have tried to investigate the funds to no avail and that some reports
suggested that documents were deliberately hidden from the public.
The chairman said that the investigation was out to
determine the amount generated from stamp duties, the location of the money and
why it has not been remitted.
The Acting Director, Banking Services, Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) said that a bank statement showing all the details of the amount
collected since 2016 had been submitted to the committee.
He said that the CBN gave a bank by bank details of all the
revenue generated from stamp duties during the period. The director, however,
said that some amount collected have not been remitted into the federation
account for legal reasons.
(NAN)
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