Speculations of political motivation set to heighten as FG revokes residence permit of Intels’ expatriates

In a move sure to heighten speculations of high-level political motivation, the Federal Government Wednesday, through the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), revoked the resident permit of expatriate staff of Intels Nigeria Limited, co-founded by former vice-president Atiku Abubakar, with which it is currently embroiled in a messy contract disagreement, alongside five other companies operating in the country.

Muhammad Babandede, Comptroller-General of NIS, made the disclosure in Abuja on Wednesday in a statement issued by Sunday James, spokesman of the agency.

James identified the other companies as Prodeco International Ltd., West Africa Machinery Services Ltd., Net Global System International Ltd., MGM Logistics Solutions Ltd., and Oriean Investment Ltd.

He revealed that the action was in exercise of the powers vested in the Comptroller-General in section 39 subsection 1 of the Immigration Act 2015 and section 5, subsection 5 of the Immigration Regulation 2017; the sections empower the NIS to revoke the resident permit of expatriate workers of companies whose operational licenses were withdrawn by the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority.

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James said, “Consequently, Babandede has directed that the expatriate staff of the affected companies above leave Nigeria not later than November 30, 2017.

“They might be recommended to the Honourable Minister of Interior for deportation should they fail to leave the country as directed by the CGI.”

Recall that in October, FG had terminated Intels’ contract with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) over allegations that the company was in breach of government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) directive.

The government’s move was greeted by widespread skepticism, with many alleging that the real motive may have been political considering the company’s ties to the former vice-president who had become increasingly openly critical of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as part of likely strategy for his known intention to contest the 2019 presidential election which the president is also widely believed to be preparing for.

This decision will only further fuel such speculations while the other listed companies will be seen by some as mere collateral damage for the targeted hit on Intels.

 

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