N4.4bn debt: Reps bar Ecobank from customs duty collection

The House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise yesterday suspended Ecobank Plc from collection of Customs Duty on behalf of the federal government for allegedly failing to remit N4.4 billion it had collected. Chairman of the Committee, Leke Abejide, handed the suspension during the resumption of the investigative hearing on alleged non-remittance of N10bn […]

The House of Representatives Committee on Customs and Excise yesterday suspended Ecobank Plc from collection of Customs Duty on behalf of the federal government for allegedly failing to remit N4.4 billion it had collected.

Chairman of the Committee, Leke Abejide, handed the suspension during the resumption of the investigative hearing on alleged non-remittance of N10bn customs duty to the Federal Government by some commercial banks.

Among the banks present at yesterday’s hearing include Ecobank, UBA, Fidelity, Polaris, Zenith, Keystone, UBA, Stanbic IBTC, Wema, and Standard Chartered.

He said the bank will remain suspended from the collection of Customs duty pending when it is able to remit the outstanding amount standing in its name to the coffer of the federal government.

The committee queried Zenith Bank for lumping data on its collections, instructing that the bank provide raw data of the Customs duty collected each of the 38 branches of the bank for the consultant handling the investigation to scrutinise.

It summoned the Managing Director of E-transact to appear before it to clear his organisation over alleged collaborations with commercial banks in defrauding the federal government.