#DJCP_Group calls for EFCC investigation following N117 billion rice importation fraud

– Group calls for the EFCC to investigate corruption and scam in rice import quota scheme

– The corruption scandal is reportedly in the realm of N117 billion

– In a petition sent to the EFCC by the group, the fraud was committed by highly influential individuals who have been likened to ‘the cabal’

A civil rights group has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFFCC)  to examine an alleged case of corruption and fraud involving the N117 billion rice import quota scheme.

The group, Civil Society Network against Corruption (CSNAC), has sent in a petition to the EFCC to this effect.

The petition was signed by the CSNAC chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, imploring the EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Mangu, to enquire into the issue.

The N117 billion rice fraud issue as reported by Premium Times involves 26 companies some of which are reportedly owned by highly influential individuals.

Two of the companies are allegedly owned by a past Kebbi state governor as well as a past attorney general of Nigeria.

According to Premium Times, the 26 companies that profited from the alleged fraud in the rice import quota scheme include Bua, Honeywell, Stallion, Lebana Rice Mill and Elephant Group.

Others include Stine Rice Mills, JAI, Arewa Rice Mill, JMK Foods, Mikap Rice, AA Ibrahim and Golden Penny.

The petition said a cabal in the rice industry sabotaged efforts from the past administration of Goodluck Jonathan, enriching themselves and their cronies with resources meant for the general populace.

Read the group’s petition below:

“Due to the huge amount spent on rice importation by the Federal Government, the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2014 came up with a new rice policy to fast-track national self-sufficiency in rice production.

“The policy specified that owners of existing rice mills and new investors with verifiable backward integration in the rice value chain will be allowed to import rice at 10 per cent duty and 20 per cent levy (30 per cent); while merchants who have nothing to contribute to local production in the form of rice farms or mills will be charged 10 per cent duty and 60 per cent levy (70 per cent).

“Technically, it was a waiver aimed at building local capacity in rice production. Subsequently, an inter-ministerial committee which was headed by Mr. Akinwunmi Adeshina, current President of Africa Development Bank (ADB), was set up to work out the national rice supply gap and allocate import licenses with appropriate quotas in order to bridge the gap and at the same time, advancing the objectives of the national rice policy.

“On paper, this committee was to determine beneficiaries and allocate quotas based on four key criteria that assess investment of individual companies into local rice production.

“From the foregoing, just like the fuel subsidy scam, this is another case of economic sabotage by a cabal of some sort who will stop at nothing to ensure that they continue to make profit, at the expense of the suffering Nigerian citizens and the economy of the country as a whole. 

“This  laudable policy introduced by the former administration  would have revolutionised  the Nigerian economy in terms of putting Agriculture and rice production on the map again, had it not been hijacked by this cabal.

“CSNAC is therefore by this petition, calling on the commission to exercise its full powers in conducting a thorough investigation into the abuse of the rice importation waiver, as well as prosecute the perpetrators and those who have corruptly benefitted from the scheme.

“They should be made to refund benefits derived from the fraudulently obtained waivers. This will go a long way in charting a new course for the efficient and effective implementation to the rice policy, thereby boosting rice production in the country, improving the livelihood of small scale farmers in Nigeria as well as revamping the near comatose state of Agriculture in Nigeria.

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