“CRIMINAL DIVERSION OF PUBLIC FUNDS BY INTERIOR MINISTRY OFFICIALS”: FALANA THREATENS LEGAL ACTION

According to a petition filed by Falana and Falana’s Chambers, and signed by its principal, Femi Falana, human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), dated January 29, 2019,the Ministry of Interior unilaterally increased the Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Alien Card (CERPAC) fee to $2,000 from the initial $1,000 without recourse to the extant law of the land. The receipt of that payment, the firm further alleged, constituted criminal diversion of public funds as they were going into a dedicated account, in disregard of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy of the Nigerian Government.

The petition  entitled,  “Criminal Diversion of Public Funds and Wrongful Enrichment of a Foreign Consultant by the Ministry of Interior Through Extortion of Foreigners Resident in Nigeria in Gross Violation of the Central Bank Act Presidential Executive Order No 5 2018 and Federal Government Policy in Treasury Single Account”, also alleged that only 30 per cent of the $2,000 collect by the consultant, Continental Transfert Technique,allegedly  owned by an Indian national, was being paid to the coffers of the Federal Government at the official rate of N306 per dollar, with the foreign consultants allegedly pocketing the remaining 70 per cent.

Falana & Falana  further asserted that the foreign consultants had, under the direction of the Minister of Interior, been paying the said 30 per cent into a dedicated account in a commercial bank, in contravention of the Federal Government’s policy on TSA, unifying all accounts of the federal government to enable proper oversight of government cash flow..

     The fee increase, the petition noted had made Nigeria the highest charging sovereign for similar services in the world, and that it was implemented within 48 hours of it being recommended by the Indian firm. “Apart from the fact that the huge amount of revenue realised from the increase of the CERPAC fee is not captured in the Appropriation Act 2018, the engagement of foreign consultants to collect it is a contravention of the Presidential Executive Order No 5 of 2018, which has prohibited the engagement of foreigners to perform services, which can be provided locally for Nigerian citizens,” the petition claimed. Further, the report claimed that “all foreigners resident in Nigeria are made to pay the CERPAC fee of the exchange rate of N370 per dollar contrary to the provisions of Section 15 and 20 of the Central Bank of Nigeria (Establishment) Act, which stipulates that the unit of currency in Nigeria shall be divided into one hundred kobo and that the currency rate issued by the Central Bank shall be the legal tender for the payment of any amount. It is therefore illegal to order that the CERPAC fee be paid in a foreign currency in Nigeria.”

Falana & Falana therefore urged Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, to stop the illegal increment and to also direct that, in accordance with the laws, that the Naira equivalent of the approved $1,000 be  paid directly into the account of the Nigerian government, in line with the TSA policy. It also sought for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to be invited to recover the any fund that had been “criminally derived through the foreign consultants engaged by the ministry.”

The law firms pledged to institute legal proceedings at the Federal High Court for the recovery of the funds that had been “criminally diverted” since January 1, 2019 by “some highly placed officials of the Ministry of Interior and their foreign collaborators” if its requests were not granted,