We sold the best BMW B7 series armoured cars to NCAA – Coscharis

We sold the best BMW B7 series
armoured cars to NCAA – Coscharis
on october 30, 2013 at 7:22 pm in news
Stella Oduah, Aviation Minister
Emman Ovuakporie and Levinus Nwabuhiogu
ABUJA – IT was another round of startling
revelations Wednesday as the House of
Representatives Committee on Aviation continued
the suspended investigative hearing into an alleged
purchase of two armoured BMW cars at
N255million by the Minister of Aviation, Princess
Stella Oduah.
Despite the fact that the minister was visibly
missing at the hearing, the Nigeria Customs
Service, NSC, FirstBank PLc and Coscharis made
presentations on their level of involvement in the
purchase of the cars.
Also,
the
committee turned down the request of Oduah to
appear by noon today declaring that “she must
appear here by 10am on Thursday.
The Committee’s Chairperson, Rep Nkeurtuka
Onyejeocha declared that “tomorrow, is sacrosanct,
the minister must appear here by 10.am.
The letter the minister’s sent that she would appear
by noon was ignored by the committee.
But what startled stakeholders was when the
Deputy Comptroller General of Customs, DCG
Mannasseh Daniel Jatau who represented the
Customs CG, Abdulahi Dikko said a N10million
waiver given to Lagos state government as waiver
to purchase vehicles for Eko 2012 sports festival
was used to clear the cars.
Jatau said”the 10million import duty payable on the
300 vehicles meant for Eko 2012 festival was used
to clear the armoured cars. ”
He explained that since the waiver was still
effective the Customs had no choice than to allow
the cars cleared from the ports.
Jatau also noted that the office of the National
Security Adviser,NSA endorsed the clearance of the
armoured cars.
At this point, Rep Zakari Mohammed asked the DCG
to explain the procedure for such a waiver and the
exact number of vehicles cleared by the Customs.
Responding Jatau said” the armoured vehicles were
cleared because there  was an authorisation letter
from the Minister of Finance.
Asked whether such a waiver was transferable,
Jatau said,” to the best of my knowledge it is not
transferable and the total vehicles were 300 units. ”
Rep Ahmed Ali queried Jatau further whether it is
possible to use such an exemption for another
purpose other than what it was meant for as in the
case of NCAA.
Rep Jerry Manwe also demanded for evidence to
show that such a waiver was granted by the
Minister of Finance.
Jatau replied, saying”among the 300 vehicles only 3
were armoured cars and whether another
beneficiary enjoyed the waiver I cannot tell you that
because we are not magicians. ”
“At the clearance point, all the requirements of the
law were met and we are under the Ministry of
Finance, if you give us till tomorrow, Thursday we
will provide the evidence you demanded for. ”
But a copy of the letter authorising the Customs
was eventually presented which  reflected that “I
am directed to refer to your letter dated 23rd June
2012 in the above subject matter and to convey the
approval, of Mr. president and Commander in Chief
to the Lagos State Government for the waiver for
waiver of Import Duty, Value Added Tax ( VAT)
ETLS, CISS and other port charges in respect of the
importation of 300 units of BMW, Ford, Land Rover,
Range Rover, Lexus, Mercedes, Escalade, Jaguar
and buses ( Petrol/Diesel) for use during the 18th
National Sports Festival ( EKO 2012) to be imported
through Messrs Coscharis Motors Nigeria Limited,
as indicated in the duly attached list.”
He further said that but for the waiver, the service
would have generated the sum of N10, 133, 533
and stated however, that the end user was diverted
from its original user, Coscharis Nig. Ltd and Lagos
state as the beneficiary not the NCAA which it was
unaware of.
He related that if the service was in the know of the
diversion of beneficiaries before the vehicles left
the port, it would have demanded that import duty
be paid on them. .
The Lenders, First Bank of Nigeria has refuted
claims by NCAA that it is in no way committed to the
Bank as regards the loan of N643m for the cars.
Group head, retail services of the bank, Seyi
Oyefeso, told the committee that NCAA is
committed to the bank having agreed to, and signed
all the documents for the loan that was meant to
cover 52 units of vehicles which does not include
the BMW armoured cars.
Coscharis Nig Ltd also maintained that due process
was followed in the purchase of the cars and
regards the exemption of duty, the President of the
company, Cosmos Maduka said it had an
agreement with Nigerian government to waive
import duties on cars it purchases for the
government at a given time.
While the committee insisted that the current price
of the vehicle shouldn’t have ordinarily exceeded 50
million Naira each, Coscharis out rightly rejected it,
saying it that could never be the case  with BMW B
7 series anywhere in the world.
But in a bid to state the fact, Coscharis revealed
that the NCAA demanded a jerk up of the prices of
the controversial vehicles from what the company
had submitted earlier.
According to the Chairman of the company, Mr.
Cosmos Maduka “NCAA told us that the initial price
is not proper”.
The hearing further revealed that the controversial
cars were originally purchased on behalf of the
Lagos State Government for the 2012 18th National
Sports Festival and later sold to NCAA.
Explaining the controversy, Maduka said that the
delay encountered when the company sought
clearance from the office of the National Security
Adviser (NSA) when the demand came made it
necessary to sell the cars to NCAA.
But the Committee insisted that Coscharis deceived
the public and the government by saying that the
cars were bought for NCAA when actually they were
purchased on behalf of the Lagos State government.
The committee also accused the company of ripping
Nigerians off.
According to the Committee, the change on the
prices of the vehicle from the initial amount of N70
million Naira to N127.5 even when the company
had admitted that it got waiver from the government
not to pay customs duties on the cars cast
aspersion on the company position on the prices.
Similarly, the hearing later took a dramatic turn
when the committee discovered  the company that
the vehicles supplied were of different make and
types.
For instance, a member of the Committee and
spokesperson of the House of Representatives,
Hon. Zakari Mohammed said that the chasis of one
of the vehicles inspected by a delegation from the
committee was DW68011.
He argued that the number differed from what
Coscharis gave in their correspondences with the
office of the NSA.
But in a swift response, the company refuted it.
It quoted the chasis numbers as 68044 and 68432
respectively.
It however promised to send the NSA certificate on
the cars to the committee.
Earlier, the company had requested to play a video
to demonstrate how exotic the cars were in a bid to
justify the prices  but was turned by the committee.