A document has revealed that Abba Moro, a
former minister of interior may have short-changed the federal
government of Nigeria in an e-Pass biometric project with the help of a
private firm, Continental Transfer Technique Limited and the Nigeria
Immigration Service (NIS).
According to the document obtained by The Punch, Moro favoured the private firm in the sharing formula for the proceeds of the e-Pass biometric project, which was based on private-public-partnership arrangement.
The project which took off in the country on September 22, 2015 was
initiated by David Parradang, the suspended comptroller-general of
immigration, following a letter on December 18, 2014, to the then
Interior minister.
In the letter, he proposed that government should abolish the issuance of re-entry visa while, adding a $100 fee to the $1000 being charged for the Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens Card.
The letter read in part: “We wish to further propose that the service provider be given 15 per cent of the $100 added to the CERPAC fee, while NIS collects another 15 per cent and the remaining 70 per cent be paid into government coffers, as is the practice. The foregoing is respectfully submitted for your consideration and approval please.”
Signing on the letter, Moro amended the sharing formula by giving 30 per cent to the service provider as against the 15 per cent suggested by the immigration service.
The e-Pass biometric project is a federal government designed scheme to ensure that all non-ECOWAS immigrants that visit Nigeria with a tourist or business visa and intend to stay in the country beyond 56 days in a year, are made to pay a certain amount of money, as advised by the NIS.
Those who want to stay beyond 56 days but not exceeding 90 days would pay a fee in the equivalent of $200, while 91 days to 180 days will attract a fee equivalent to $1,000, which must be paid to Sterling Bank Plc only.
Those staying beyond 180 days but not exceeding 365 days would attract a fee equivalent of $2,000 while an over-stay without due permission from the federal government would attract a penalty, which is 100 per cent of the prescribed fees.
An additional fee of N8, 000 will be charged for each application form by the receiving bank.
In October, Moro had been summoned and interrogated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the March 2014 ill-fated recruitment into the Nigeria Immigration Service.
Paradang who was a key-party to the botched recruitment exercise was also quizzed over the whereabouts of the N650million fees gotten from the job applicants.
Recall that over 520,000 Nigerian graduate applicants had applied for 5,000 spaces and each of them paid the sum of N1000 to write a test to get an employment slot. Unfortunately, over 15 applicants lost their lives in various recruitment centres across the country on the day of the test.
According to the document obtained by The Punch, Moro favoured the private firm in the sharing formula for the proceeds of the e-Pass biometric project, which was based on private-public-partnership arrangement.
Abba Moro in fresh NIS project scam.
In the letter, he proposed that government should abolish the issuance of re-entry visa while, adding a $100 fee to the $1000 being charged for the Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens Card.
The letter read in part: “We wish to further propose that the service provider be given 15 per cent of the $100 added to the CERPAC fee, while NIS collects another 15 per cent and the remaining 70 per cent be paid into government coffers, as is the practice. The foregoing is respectfully submitted for your consideration and approval please.”
Signing on the letter, Moro amended the sharing formula by giving 30 per cent to the service provider as against the 15 per cent suggested by the immigration service.
The e-Pass biometric project is a federal government designed scheme to ensure that all non-ECOWAS immigrants that visit Nigeria with a tourist or business visa and intend to stay in the country beyond 56 days in a year, are made to pay a certain amount of money, as advised by the NIS.
Those who want to stay beyond 56 days but not exceeding 90 days would pay a fee in the equivalent of $200, while 91 days to 180 days will attract a fee equivalent to $1,000, which must be paid to Sterling Bank Plc only.
Those staying beyond 180 days but not exceeding 365 days would attract a fee equivalent of $2,000 while an over-stay without due permission from the federal government would attract a penalty, which is 100 per cent of the prescribed fees.
An additional fee of N8, 000 will be charged for each application form by the receiving bank.
In October, Moro had been summoned and interrogated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the March 2014 ill-fated recruitment into the Nigeria Immigration Service.
Paradang who was a key-party to the botched recruitment exercise was also quizzed over the whereabouts of the N650million fees gotten from the job applicants.
Recall that over 520,000 Nigerian graduate applicants had applied for 5,000 spaces and each of them paid the sum of N1000 to write a test to get an employment slot. Unfortunately, over 15 applicants lost their lives in various recruitment centres across the country on the day of the test.
The Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, on Sunday said 15 countries
within and outside Africa have booked places in this year’s Calabar
Carnival.
