The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Hajia Zainab Ahmed on Monday told the House of Representatives that legal issues were holding back the commencement of the e – customs modernisation project.
In her presentation to the joint committee on Customs and Excise, Finance as well as Banking and Currency, the Minister said the Federal Government found out the company awarded the contract in 2017 lacked the technical capacity to execute the project while also breaching some provisions of the contract.
She said further that Messr Adani Nigeria Limited, who were awarded the contract by the Technical Committee on Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme, leased the contract to another company Adani International Limited based in the UK and registered four months after the contract was signed.
She said after the cancellation of the contract, Adani Nigeria Limited filed three different suits against the Federal Government alleging breach of contract, adding that the law suits which are yet to be decided by the Court are holding back commencement of the project
Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hamid Ibrahim Ali said Adani Nigeria Limited were not supposed to be awarded the contract in the first place and should be facing prosecution for false information.
