. . . As first 98 containers are released, charges waived
By Godwin Oritse
The Federal Government is considering tougher sanctions, including the blacklisting of contractors who allegedly collected full payment for critical power equipment but abandoned more than 300 containers of the imported items at Nigerian seaports for over 20 years.
The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, made this position known at Apapa Customs Command, Lagos, while responding to journalists’ questions on the appropriate sanctions for the defaulting contractors.
Adeniyi, who spoke alongside the Minister of Power, Mr Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe, described the abandonment of the equipment procured with public funds as an irresponsible handling of taxpayers’ money, warning that such conduct amounted to economic sabotage and should not go unpunished.
The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, made this position known at Apapa Customs Command, Lagos, while responding to journalists’ questions on the appropriate sanctions for the defaulting contractors.
Adeniyi, who spoke alongside the Minister of Power, Mr Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe, described the abandonment of the equipment procured with public funds as an irresponsible handling of taxpayers’ money, warning that such conduct amounted to economic sabotage and should not go unpunished.
The Customs chief spoke during an official engagement aimed at facilitating the immediate clearance and release of 98 out of more than 300 containers of power equipment abandoned at the nation’s ports.
He stressed the need to hold the contractors accountable for failing to fulfil their contractual obligations, insisting that public resources must not be wasted through acts of negligence and deliberate disregard for national interest.
He said:”There is an important lesson here. This exercise has exposed a disturbing trend in which some contractors awarded government contracts and fully paid for, subsequently abandoned the equipment at the ports for years. This is not helping Nigerians or the economy at all.
“Contractors who accepted government projects and received payment but failed to deliver, choosing instead to abandon the equipment at the ports, must be regarded as economic saboteurs.
“Defaulting contractors must be held accountable. We also hear of items procured through donor agencies for essential services, particularly healthcare, which have been fully paid for, but deliberately abandoned at the ports.
“The Nigeria Customs Service is an agency of the Federal Government, and we will not condone such attitude. The 300 containers we are referring to are indicative, there could be even more.”
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