With the dust raised by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) recruitment saga yet to settle, former Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, has again been accused of defrauding the Federal Government.
This time, he allegedly has a hand in how a private firm, Continental Transfer Technique Limited, got an e-Pass NIS biometric project.
The project, which took off in the country on September 22, 2015, was initiated by the suspended Comptroller-General of Immigration, Mr. David Parradang, following a letter to the then Interior minister on December 18, 2014.
According to The Punch, Moro favoured the private firm in the sharing formula for the proceeds of the project, which was based on Private-Public-Partnership arrangement.
The e-Pass project is a scheme designed by the Federal Government to ensure that all non-ECOWAS immigrants that visit Nigeria with a Tourist or Business Visa and intend to stay beyond an aggregate of 56 days in a year are made to pay a certain amount of money, as advised by the Nigeria Immigration Service.
Visitors who stay in the country beyond 56 days but not exceeding 90 days would pay a fee in the equivalent of $200 while 91 days to 180 days will attract a fee equivalent to $1,000.
Curiously, the fee must be paid to Sterling Bank Plc only.
This is despite the fact that such service was expected to be made available in some other banks so that those targeted can have different options of financial institutions.
The scheme states that immigrants beyond 180 days but not exceeding 365 days would attract a fee equivalent of $2,000, while an over-stay without due permission from the Federal Government would attract a penalty, which is 100 per cent of the prescribed fees.
An additional fee of N8, 000 will be charged for each application form by the receiving bank.
Parradang had written a letter to Moro on the e-Pass project, proposing that the government should abolish the issuance of re-entry visa while adding a $100 fee to the $1000 being charged for the Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens Card.
Parradang had proposed that the service provider, CONTEC be given 15 per cent of the $100 added to the CERPAC fee while NIS collects 15 per cent.
The letter partly read, “We wish to further propose that the service provider be given 15 per cent of the $100 added to the CERPAC fee, while NIS collects another 15 per cent and the remaining 70 per cent be paid into government coffers, as is the practice.
“The foregoing is respectfully submitted for your consideration and approval please.”
But Moro, who signed on the letter, amended the sharing formula by giving 30 per cent to the service provider as against the 15 per cent suggested by the immigration service.
It was learnt that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, under Ibrahim Lamorde, got a hint of the controversial deal but failed to act.
The agency under Ibrahim Magu was already working with the Ministry of Interior and Immigration to get more information that will culminate in the prosecution of individuals and companies indicted in the scheme.
