The office of the Presidency responded to allegations of missing N89 trillion worth of stamp duty, calling it “totally ridiculous and a complete mockery”
This was disclosed in a statement issued Tuesday night by Garba Shehu, the media aide to the Presidency.
His explanation: Shehu explained that there is no evidence to prove the claim which he said was made by a disbanded committee and disgruntled consultants. He said:
- “It is now evident that the consultants and petitioners’ claims of a missing N89 trillion from stamp duty appear false and a figment of their malicious imaginations.
- “The same set of consultants claimed in 2016 there was N20 trillion to be collected. It was found to be false. The entire banking sector deposit is not even up to half of N89 trillion.
- “Indeed, if the Federal Government can find N89 trillion, it can pay off all its debt, both foreign and local currency and all state government debts and still have over N10 trillion left.”
More refutations: The presidential media aide also clarified on a misleading media report that said there is $171 billion in the I&E Window. He said:
He said the CBN-established Investors and Exporters (I&E) Window is a foreign exchange trading platform where banks and other authorized dealers can buy or sell foreign exchange. These trades are recorded by the CBN daily and reported as turnover or activity in the market.
He noted the amount does not mean that we have $171 billion stacked away in some vault or saved in any account.
- “Contrary to Hon. Kazaure’s assertion, the I&E window is NOT an “account” where foreign exchange is deposited. It is simply a platform for trading foreign exchange. As of April 2020, the total amount of foreign exchange traded (either bought or sold) in the window was about $171 billion.”
