Interior Ministry Generates N1.195bn Through Expatriate Quotas in 10 Months

•NASS alleges foreign prisoners working as construction workers in Nigeria 

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has said his ministry surpassed its budgetary target of N600 million revenue from the issuance of expatriate quotas in 2023, by generating N1.195 billion from January to October this year.

The National Assembly however through its joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Interior, challenged the ministry on the issuance of the expatriate quotas.

The federal parliament said it was serving as avenue for stealing jobs from Nigerians in Nigeria by expatriates.

Tunji-Ojo, spoke when he appeared before the joint panel to defend the 2024 budget of his ministry yesterday.

The Minister said the Ministry surpassed its budgetary revenue projections on expatriate quotas and marriage.

He said, “Apart from the projected revenue from expatriate quotas that had been surpassed by about N600m extra, the N380million projected revenue from marriage, has also been surpassed by over N500 million with N892.774 million realised as at October 31, 2023,” he said.

The Chairman of the Joint Committee, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC Edo North) admitted that the Ministry surpassed its revenue targets on issuance of expatriate quotas.

He said the policy gave room for expatriates to steal jobs meant for Nigerians in Nigeria.

He explained: “Your Ministry needs to regulate issuance of the quotas very well as I have on good authority that prisoners from foreign land are working in Nigeria as construction workers.

“This is even different from the age-long fraud the oil companies have been carrying out in the country through the policy of expatriate quotas by making our own qualified engineers to work under foreign technicians.

“Many non-Nigerians are in the country, some of them live inside containers. I even believe and dare say it that there are foreign prisoners who are working in Nigeria. They were shipped to our country to serve their prison terms.

“They were being paid according to their country’s minimum wage by the construction industry that brought them. I don’t want to mention the company’s name but if I am provoked, I will mention them.

“Honourable Minister, this is a serious issue, prisoners are not expected to work in their countries if the product or whatever they engage in is meant to be exported,” he said.

But the Minister in his response , assured the committee members that the Ministry had already come up with initiative for job protection for Nigerians.

The initiative according to him is known as Expatriate Employee Network ( EEN) primarily aimed to safeguard jobs meant for Nigerians from been stolen by expatriates and also prevent expatriate workers from evading tax payment in Nigeria.