Reps probe alleged $30bn revenue leakage

The House of Representatives has commenced an investigative hearing into the alleged $30 billion annual revenue leakages arising from payments on contracts by companies.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, James Faleke, and his Banking and Currency counterpart, Victor Nwokolo, led the lawmakers at Monday’s proceedings in Abuja.

Falake said the committee would also investigate foreign exchange allocation to companies from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

He said the foreign exchange allocations are for the importation and payment of foreign services vendors, dividend repatriation, foreign loans, and interest payments.

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Faleke said: “We are all akin to Nigeria’s recurring and growing fiscal deficit, and that to sufficiently finance the Federation’s annual fiscal expenditures, the government is left with no choice but to borrow billions of dollars every year.

“We have also seen the real value of the Naira to the United States Dollar drop drastically, the dire consequences of which the Nigerian people are experiencing today.”

He added that the foreign direct investments and capital importations are not reflecting in the economic progress of the country.

“This is the reason that the House of Representatives through its Joint Committees of Finance, and Banking and Currency launched the investigation,” the lawmaker said.

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