President Muhammadu Buhari has overruled the decision by the Ministry of Finance directing the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to discontinue an appeal it instituted against a court judgment involving it and Messrs Minaj Holdings over seizure of imported cement.
Documents exclusively obtained by New Telegraph on the matter, which had lingered since 2009, was brought to the president’s attention by the immediate past Comptroller- General of Customs, Dikko Inde – Abdullahi. But President Buhari, in a memo, directed the finance ministry to withdraw earlier memo issued to the Customs to desist from appealing the judgment.
Minaj Holdings Limited was granted a presidential approval in 2008 to import 500,000 metric tons of cement. The approval had a valid period of December 31, 2008. The company, according to information, brought cargo loads of cement after October 29, 2009, clearly over ten months after the expiration of the presidential approval.
The Customs, under the watch of immediate past CG, acting on Federal Government’s fiscal policy banning the importation of cement, which had come into effect in 2009, sized consignment of cement brought by Minaj.
The company challenged the seizure at the Federal High Court. At the hearing of the application, the court gave an interim order that the cement be sold under the supervision of the Deputy Registrar of the Federal High Court and that the proceeds paid into an interest yielding account pending the determination of the substantive suit. The order of the court was carried out and the consignment was sold for N155 million.
However, the court thereafter was said to issue another order that the proceeds from the sale be paid to the plaintiff.
