Stallion, Olam Owe Nigeria N44Bn Import Duties –Senate

Stallion Group and Olam International, two companies involved in rice importation into Nigeria, owe the country a whopping N44billion as import duties on metric tonnes they imported since May 2014, according to the Senate Adhoc Committee on Import Waivers probing the abuse of the policy in recent years.

Senator Adamu Aliero (APC Kebbi Central), chairman of the Committee, said Nigeria would not fold its hands and watch the huge debt swept under the carpet.

While demanding for payment of the money when the two companies appeared before the the committee, Aliero said that “There is no way the government will ignore this kind of money. We have to ensure that this money is collected and deposited into the Federation Account,” Aliero said.

He further disclosed that the companies imported rice into the country without paying waivers, off-loaded it into their warehouses only to refuse to pay required duties when asked by the Nigeria Customs Service.

According to him, while Stallion Group was accosted by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to demand for the money, the company opted to drag NCS to the court.

He also disclosed how the company flouted the quota given to it to import 157,000 metric tonnes of rice with impunity by opting to unilaterally import 457,000 metric tonnes in excess of its required quota.

In his defence, Executive Director of Stallion Group, Harpreet Singh, claimed that its mission in Nigeria was to ensure that the country was self-sufficient in rice production and equally ensure that the nation is saved from scarcity of the product.

He also claimed that Nigerian borders were porous, adding that former President Goodluck Jonathan granted the approval on fiscal policy on rice production on May 26, 2014.

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture, according to him, “opted to flout the tenets of the policy by giving quotas to non-existing millers and investors who have no connection with the policy while existing investors were left.”

He claimed further that the Stallion Group’s investments in Nigeria were not giving jobs to foreigners, but to Nigerians, saying his company had lost millions of naira to activities of smugglers as a result of porous borders.

Olam, which claimed that it had the largest rice farm in Africa and that it has been operating in Nigeria in the past 35 years, argued that given its long period of business operation in Nigeria, the company would not consider short-changing the nation.

Olam’s representative, Ade Adefeko, said the company was seeking a legal opinion on the matter, saying whatever counsel it is given, it will be duly followed.