Reps approve Buhari’s request for N308.4bn promissory notes for 94 beneficiaries of export expansion grant

The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the release of N308.4 billion Promissory Notes for the payment of outstanding claims of 94 beneficiaries of the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) between 2007 and 2020.

The EEG is a grant provided to exporters to enable them to stay competitive in the global market.

The approval of the companies whose claims have been reviewed and validated followed the consideration and approval of the report of the House Committee on Commerce by the Committee on Supply at plenary.

According to the report, out of the total sum of N308.4 billion, the sum of N193.456 billion is for 133 beneficiaries in respect of EEG outstanding claims for 2017-2020.

The lawmakers also approved the sum of N108.317 billion for 35 beneficiaries in respect of EEG backlog claims from 2007 to 2016.

In the same vein, the House approved the sum of N68,389,000 for 13 beneficiaries in respect of the stock of outstanding Negotiable Duty Credit Certificates (NDCCs).

The House also approved the sum of N6,617,781,151.25 for 69 beneficiaries only in respect of the shortfall in the approval claims by the 8th National Assembly.

The house, however, stepped down the release of the total sum of N60.6 billion outstanding for 34 companies “due to their inability to provide the necessary documentation to validate their claims.

“The claims for the affected companies have not been validated after verification and therefore not recommended for the issuance of a promissory note,” the report stated.

According to the report seen by Nigerian Tribune, During the verification of outstanding EEG claims, the Committee established and validated for approval a total outstanding claim of N308,459,678,546.41 for 198 beneficiaries.

The amount represents the valid claims of the companies cleared by the Committee to qualify for issuance of Promissory Notes claims to amount to N60,635,088,940.63 for 32 companies yet to be cleared by the Committee for payment/issuance of Promissory Notes on grounds of non-availability of the necessary documentation.

The Committee worked assiduously on the request from Mr President and the documents submitted by the beneficiaries.

The committee was able to save a huge amount of funds for the Federal Government of Nigeria to the tune of N6,392,107,082.76.

The Committee was able to achieve the savings as a result of the downward reduction in the rates of the companies; Non-repatriation of export proceeds by some beneficiaries disqualifying them from benefiting from the Scheme; Non-submission of a formal application by some of the beneficiaries for some of the affected years; Submission of incomplete documents by some exporters for some of their claims and Exchange rate differentials.

During the review of the documents and interactions with stakeholders, the Committee observed the significance of the EEG Scheme as a viable tool for diversifying the economy and stimulating non-oil sector growth.

The lawmakers further noted that the request by Mr President to approve the sum of N375,486,874,569.80 only for issuance of a Promissory Note to settle claims of a total of 228 companies have witnessed extensive scrutiny which validated many claims and rendered a large number disqualified either on grounds of inadequate documentations or inability to support claims.

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Reps approvee Buhari’s request for N308.4bn promissory notes for 94 beneficiaries of export expansion grant