The minister of finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala yesterday practically tore the controversial Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) Bill, saying that details of the bill are aimed at stripping the office of the minister of its supervisory role over the Nigeria Customs Service.
The minister who spoke at the venue of the public hearing on the CEMA at the Senate pointedly accused the Customs of being too ambitious. According to her, the bill seeks to remove the powers of the President and the Minister of Finance from the activities of Customs.
The minister of finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala yesterday practically tore the controversial Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) Bill, saying that details of the bill are aimed at stripping the office of the minister of its supervisory role over the Nigeria Customs Service.
The minister who spoke at the venue of the public hearing on the CEMA at the Senate pointedly accused the Customs of being too ambitious. According to her, the bill seeks to remove the powers of the President and the Minister of Finance from the activities of Customs.
She argued that the Nigeria Customs Service can not be independent of the fiscal policies of the Federal Government.
She consequently appealed to the Senate committee on Customs which is chaired by former governor of Kaduna state; Alhaji Hammed Makarfi to strike out areas where according to her, the Customs wants power for itself.
She noted that the Customs Service was an important tool for revenue collection and for facilitation of trade between countries being supervised by the Ministry of Finance.
She further observed that the bill vested too many powers in the Customs at the expense of the president and the minister, thereby making it inimical to the economic goals of the government.
“We do not consider this a good bill at the moment, in terms of the economic development of the country and we think that it would need significant amendment of some sections.
“With the present bill, the policy making and executing powers are all vested largely in the Customs and are not separate.
“We believe that the bill should separate policy making powers from the executing powers, so that they can be properly aligned.
“Many of the powers of the president that are granted in the former bill have now been rescinded and many of the powers of the minister in the former bill have also now been rescinded,” she said.
According to her, the existing law provides that the board of the NCS shall be under the control of the Minister of Finance, who has the powers to make appointment into the board.
Okonjo-Iweala said that the minister’s powers to appoint members of the board were limited to a few persons while large powers of appointing the member were vested in the Customs Service.
“You can’t have an organisation having the large powers to appoint members to its own board, to supervise itself. You have to separate these issues.
The minister, who stressed the need for a review of the Customs, added that the bill as presently constituted would not augur well for the economic development of Nigeria, if passed into law.
She called for partnership between the executive and the legislature to address the grey areas of the bill to ensure the enactment of a balanced law that would guarantee balance of power.
One of the most controversial areas in the Bill is that where the Customs seeks to do away with the services of pre shipment inspection agents, and also where it says that customs can handle the entire cargo clearance chain.
If included in the new CEMA, it will herald the death of SON, NAFDAC and NDLEA in the cargo inspection and clearance procedure.
The public hearing which was scooped by Shipping Position Daily yesterday was not attended by major stakeholders in the maritime sector. There was however Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN0 which was represented by its registrar; Sir Mike Jukwe. The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria was also represented by its former president; Chief Kola Jamodu.
The Comptroller General of Customs was represented by DCG John Atteh, there was also a large delegation of retired senior Customs Officers, led by former acting Comptrolller General; Mr David Ogungbemile.The Ministry of Trades and Investment, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission
Discussion about this post