Uzodimma: Serving Governor, Others Plotting to Discredit Our Committee

Senate Joint Committee on Customs, Excise and Tarrif and Marine Transport has raised the alarm about a carefully packaged plot spearheaded by a serving governor from the North-west to discredit the noble and patriotic duties of committee members aimed at ending the vexed issue of revenue leakage at the nation’s ports.

He disclosed this yesterday in a statement issued by the Media Consultant to the Senate Committee on Customs, Hon. Duro Meseko.
According to Uzodimma, the serving governor working in concert with some federal agencies under probe have perfected plans to invade some media organisations with fake concocted stories aimed at ridiculing and painting members of the committee and by extension the institution of the Senate as corrupt.
He said the media would be awash with those outrightly discrediting stories any moment from now.

“We wish to draw the attention of Nigerians to a satanic plan by a sitting governor from the North-west region working with some disgruntled federal agencies currently under probe over their role in the infractions at the nation’s ports which had cost the federal government over N30 trillion loss in revenues to launch a massive propaganda in some sections of the media aimed at the discrediting the good works of the committee.

Our investigation reveal that this particular governor acting on behalf of the chief executive of one of these agencies have voted a huge amount of money for this dirty job. We make bold to say that our committee has the express mandate of the Senate to investigate these unfortunate infractions at the ports with a view to blocking revenue leakages and shoring up the nation’s revenue profile at the ports and we will never succumb to cheap blackmail or subterfuge of any sort from any quarters no matter how highly placed.

“It may interest Nigerians to know that our investigation has led the federal government to recover not less than N120 billion from some defaulting agencies and more money is being recovered as we speak. So why are some unpatriotic Nigerians indifferent to this laudable achievements by the Senate and are bent on denting the image of members with unreasonable allegations that at best remain laughable?”

According to the senator, the committee would work even harder to be able to deliver on its mandate without “giving in to these needless distractions of very selfish and unpatriotic elements masquerading as nationalists.”