Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Mohammed Babandede, has disclosed that the country has lost N18 billion due to skewed agreement on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with private companies.
Babandede, who revealed this while interacting with the Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Interior, Thursday, said the PPP agreement was signed on behalf of the service by the Ministry of Interior.
The CG stated that NIS had made concerted effort to jettison the agreement but, according to him, the beneficiary companies have employed legal means to frustrate it.
His words: “The sharing formula in the agreement between NIS and the private companies was skewed in favour of the companies, which to us, is economically injurious to the nation.
“Expectedly, Immigration as a body has vehemently protested against the whole arrangement but the fact that the agreement was signed on our behalf by the Interior Ministry, the private companies have continued to have the upper hand,” he said.
Although he refused to name the companies involved and details of the contractual agreements, further informed that President Muhammadu Buhari had already handed over the matter to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate.
Giving information on-budget performance of NIS, Babandede said the agency received only N3.4 billion out of the N13.175 capital votes appropriated for it in 2018 budget, adding that nothing was released from N8.214 billion appropriated for capital projects in 2019.
He further said the agency had planned to clamp down on irregular migrants in the country, saying, “President Muhammadu Buhari has given them six months grace of Amnesty, which started from 18th of July this year and ends on 19th of January 2020.
“During this period, biometric data of concerned migrants are to be taken and documented. Information to that effect has been sent out to all the affected migrants that whoever refuses to comply, will from January 20, 2020, be on the radar of Immigration operatives for arrest and deportation,” he explained.
