The Federal Government has assured the public of its readiness to act on the recommendations that may be submitted by the panel currently investigating the the N89 trillion Stamp Duty proceeds allegedly stolen from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) accounts.
A House of Representatives member, Hon. Muhammed Kazaure, had on December 14, 2022 raised the alarm about the alleged theft of Stamp Duty proceeds and claimed that he had valid documents to prove that the fund was lodged in the CBN’s accounts.
Reacting to the allegation during her public presentation of the breakdown of the 2023 budget on Wednesday in Abuja, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said the government was waiting for the outcome of the investigations on the alleged theft and that would act on the findings.
She said: “There is an investigation that is being carried out by a committee. There are also some investigations that are being carried out by some security agencies.
“We are anxiously waiting for the outcomes of these investigations. If funds are realized from these investigations, it will help us fund the deficit in the 2023 budget.”
The lawmaker had alleged that the apex bank did not fully remit the N89 trillion Stamp Duty revenue into the Federation Account as tax and claimed that the apex bank only remitted 60 percent to the federation account while the 40 percent balance was diverted into private pockets.
Kazaure further claimed that the president was worried over the unremitted revenue since he would like to offset substantial part of the nation’s debts before leaving office.
The lawmaker also substantiated the allegations with some documents and accused the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, of keeping N171 billion of the Stamp Duty proceeds in the apex bank’s private investors’ account.
Kazaure called for the suspension of the CBN boss to enable the relevant authorities to fully investigate the alleged fraud and make their findings known to the public.
However, the Presidency had in a statement made clarifications on the alleged missing fund, including President Muhammadu Buhari setting up in June 2022 a Presidential Committee on the recovery of Stamp Duty collections from 2015.
The lawmaker was appointed to serve as the Secretary of the Committee.
