The ministry of Interior has been accused by Femi Falana (SAN) of Falana’s Chamber of diverting public funds into a separate account instead of the Treasury Single Account(TSA) as sanctioned by law, Igberetvnews reports.
The ministry was also accused of raising the Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Alien (CERPAC) fee to $2,000 from the initial $1,000 without consulting the existing law, Igberetvnews learnt.
The petition was personally signed by Femi Felana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and was titled: ‘Criminal Diversion of Public Funds and Wrongful Enrichment of a Foreign Consultant by the Ministry of Interior Through Extortion of Foreigners Resident in Nigeria in Gross Violation of the Central Bank Act Presidential Executive Order No 5 2018 and Federal Government Policy in Treasury Single Account.’
The chamber also accused the ministry of increasing the payable fee by resident foreigners in the country by a 100 percent, where only 30 percent and not the whole money was paid to the federal government.
The petition read: “Apart from the fact that the huge amount of revenue realised from the increase of the CERPAC fee is not captured in the Appropriation Act 2018, the engagement of foreign consultants to collect it is a contravention of the Presidential Executive Order No 5 of 2018, which has prohibited the engagement of foreigners to perform services, which can be provided locally for Nigerian citizens.
“Furthermore, all foreigners resident in Nigeria are made to pay the CERPAC fee of the exchange rate of N370 per dollar contrary to the provisions of Section 15 and 20 of the Central Bank of Nigeria (Establishment) Act, which stipulates that the unit of currency in Nigeria shall be divided into one hundred kobo and that the currency rate issued by the Central Bank shall be the legal tender for the payment of any amount. It is therefore illegal to order that the CERPAC fee be paid in a foreign currency in Nigeria.”
