The Presidency has described as “ridiculous and a complete mockery”, the alleged missing of N89 trillion from stamp duty.

A member of the House of Representatives from Jigawa State, Gudaji Kazaure, had claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari secretly set up the committee on the reconciliation and recovery of all stamp duties, adding that only the President could dissolve the committee in which he allegedly functions as secretary.

However, the Presidency, in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said the consultants and petitioners’ claims of a missing N89 trillion from stamp duty was 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 naira, it can pay off all its debt, both foreign and local currency and all state government debts and still have over N10 trillion left.

“So, the claim by these so-called consultants and the disbanded committee is totally ridiculous and a complete mockery.

“Our good friend and a committed party member, Hon Gudaji has tried to draw me into a public debate which I don’t consider a good idea.

“In a video clip in Hausa and a press release in English both by this good friend of the administration, Hon. Gudaji Kazaure, invited me to answer questions, some of which are completely lacking in imagination.

READ ALSO: Ikpeazu to Wike: You’re a defender of due process, apostle of development

“I would have ignored the allegations therein. Yet, a wise man once said that a lie can travel the world while the truth is still wearing his shoes.

“It is on the basis of the above that I decided to put some things straight and respond directly to Hon. Kazaure’s questions posed to me.

“Specifically, I will respond to each of his questions as follows:

“(A) ‘The money with CBN I & E window Account stood at $171 billion dollars as at 2020 what is the source of that money?’

“To my knowledge, 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.

“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.

“The size of this amount suggests that there is adequate liquidity or availability of foreign exchange and that anyone who wants to buy or sell would easily find a counterparty to trade with. The amount does not mean that we have $171 billion stacked away in some vault or saved in any account.

“Note that both the CBN and authorized dealers are free to bring foreign exchange to the window, and in fact, the CBN is not the major seller of Foreign Exchange in that segment of the market.

“(B) ‘The N23.4 trillion CBN gave as a loan to some banks, what is the source of that money?’

“The CBN is best placed to respond to this question though I must say the assertion itself is both baseless and misleading. The total balance sheet of the CBN is not anywhere near N23 trillion. So how can it give such an amount in loans to any or some banks?

“(C) The N13 trillion loan to the federal government from FMDQ, what is the source of that?’

“According to the DMO, the total amount of Nigeria’s domestic debt as of September 2022 is N21.6 trillion. Is Hon. Kazaure suggesting that a small company in Lagos holds over 60 percent of Nigeria’s domestic debt? More also, of the N21.6 trillion domestic debt, only N4.5 trillion are in Treasury Bills? How then can a company in Lagos hold more treasury bills (N13 trillion) than the entire treasury bills issued by the Federal Government? For the avoidance of doubt, I also took time to reach out to the FMDQ (Financial Markets Derivative Quotes) and understand from their audited financial statements that their holdings of FGN Treasury bills is just N7.99 billion as of December 2021.

“(D) Finally, what is the total equity of CBN and its National budget?

“Anyone who understands this question should provide an answer. I can offer this information: on an annual basis and in line with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the CBN transfers 80 percent of its operating surplus to the Federal Government as part of the budget revenues. In the last 6 years, this contribution has amounted to over N150 billion,” Shehu stated.

He noted that President Buhari has not completely ignored these matters, adding that a duly authorised committee under the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, is working to reconcile, recover, and transfer all Stamp Duties into Stamp Duties Central Account.

“The work is ongoing, it is not finished yet and the President will continue to show his keen interest in the matter of Stamp Duty collection,” the presidential spokesman added.

The Star