Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial
Institutions has engaged forensic experts to
The committee, headed by Senator
Rafiu Ibrahim, said on Wednesday that the experts would help it unravel how
$13.92 billion was allegedly repatriated from Nigeria between 2006 and 2016, in
violation of the nation’s extant laws.
Senator Ibrahim, who stated this
while addressing newsmen in the Senate, said the stage was set now set for the
investigation, adding that all those concerned persons had been invited for the
public hearing today.
His statement was coming on the
heels of a declaration by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Enelamah
that he was innocent of any crime in the MTN saga.
Enelamah, in his submission to the
committee, denied any wrongdoing, adding that he was never appointed as a
director of MTN.
While addressing newsmen, however,
Senator Ibrahim, accompanied by the sponsor of the motion seeking a probe of
MTN and others, Senator Dino Melaye and Senator Peter Nwaboashi, said forensic
experts who would come from within and outside the country were already on hand
to help carry out thorough investigations.
“The committee has written and
invited MTN and its promoters and stakeholders to appear before it on Thursday,
October 20, 2016,” he said.
He stated that those invited
included the Chief Executive Officer of MTN, Dr Pascal Dozie; Dr Enelamah;
Ahmed Dasuki; Gbenga Oyebode; Babatunde Falowiyo; Mohammed Sani Bello and
Victor Odili.
Others invited included Stanbic
IBTC, Standard Chartered Bank, Citi Bank and Diamond Bank.
“The committee has also written to
the Central Bank of Nigeria and Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria for
information on this matter.
“This is because the activities of
MTN and it bankers are in clear violation of Section 15 of the Foreign Exchange
(Monitoring and Miscellaneous) Act, 1995, and Memorandum 20 and 22 relating to
the purchase and sale of Securities and Direct Foreign Capital Investment in
Nigeria respectively,” Ibrahim said.
Enelamah, in a letter to the
committee, insisted that he never earned any dividend directly from MTN shares,
adding also that he was never the owner of Celtelcom Investment Limited or a
shareholder of Celtelcom, as recorded in the votes and proceedings of the
Senate on Tuesday, September 27, 2016.”
“It is also important to note that
investors do not have responsibility for the remittance of proceeds from the
company they invested in.
“Therefore, at no time was I ever in
a position to transfer funds out of Nigeria on behalf of MTN and at no time did
I transfer any funds out of Nigeria on behalf of MTN,” he had written in the
letter.
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