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N50 billion scandal:We got no rice
waiver, we didn't ask for any- Vaswani Brothers
Newsdiaryonline Sun Nov 20,2011
Vaswani..
The Vaswani Brothers have expressed shock
at the purported granting of a phantom N50bn waiver to them
through their company, Stallion Group on rice imported into the
country.
It, however, welcomed the probe by the
House of Representatives into the allegations of import waiver
granted to the Stallion Group/Vaswani Brothers.
The Stallion Group/Vaswani Brothers in a
statement by their counsel, Kanu Agabi (SAN) weekend repudiated
the allegations of a phantom N50bn waiver granted to the
brothers and their company insisting that neither did they apply
for import waivers nor were they granted any by the Federal
Government or any other authority.
“We write on behalf of our clients
(Stallion Group/Vaswani Brothers) to inform the appropriate
authorities and the general public that our clients (Stallion
Group/Vaswani Brothers) did not apply for any rice import
waivers and no import waivers were granted to them by the
Federal Government or any other authority,” Agabi said.
He said that the latest onslaught against
the Stallion Group/Vaswani Brothers is only a continuation of
the dirty tactics aimed at tarnishing the image of the brothers
and their company.
“Following the wrongful deportation of our
clients from the country – an action which was quickly set aside
by the Federal High Court on the ground that it was illegal and
unlawful – our clients have been the victims of all sorts of
lies and rumours aimed at scandalizing them and tarnishing their
image and reputation,” Agabi said.
He, however, noted “fortunately, on every
such occasion the truth has prevailed and our clients have been
vindicated as investigations conducted by the Federal Government
have confirmed the innocence of our clients.”
He said that the Stallion Group/Vaswani
Brothers support wholeheartedly the decision of the House of
Representatives to investigate these allegations.
“In the past, falsehoods of the type, which
the House is set to investigate, provided the platform for
actions as extreme as the illegal deportation of our clients.
The action of the House is worthy of commendation in that
opportunity is now afforded for the accusers to come forward and
justify, if possible, their false accusations, while our clients
will be equally opportuned to know and to confront these false
allegations with indisputable facts,” he said.
According to him, Stallion Group/Vaswani
Brothers are a multinational group with presence in over 18
countries in many of which they have received several awards
from governments and high commendation for their contributions
to the growth of the economy of those nations.
“Our clients have been an integral part of
the Nigerian economy for over forty years manufacturing and
providing consumers with products of high quality at fair prices
and employing thousands of Nigerians in their industries.
“The investments that our clients have made
to encourage rice production within the country are unequalled.
Their rice industries presently have a production capacity of
300,000 tons while work is ongoing to increase the capacity to
990,000 tons by next year. This is consistent with the
President’s commendable goal of achieving self-sufficiency in
rice production and our clients dream,” Agabi said.
He noted that contrary to the notion that
the Stallion Group/Vaswani Brothers undermine the Nigerian
economy, they have been “instrumental to aiding and facilitating
local farming, production capacities for rice and are expanding
in anticipation of achieving self-sufficiency.
A section of the media had on November 18,
2011 reported that the House of Representatives has opened an
inquiry into alleged waivers granted to the Stallion Group/Vaswani
Brothers totaling N50bn. That motion and inquiry was ostensibly
prompted by allegations made by former President Olusegun
Obasanjo against the Stallion Group/Vaswani Brothers.
The House in the motion titled “urgent need
to investigate the import waiver granted to the Vaswani Brothers
(Stallion)” mandated its committees on agriculture, customs,
finance and commerce to investigate the alleged import waiver of
N50billion granted the Vaswani Brothers through their company
(Stallion) on rice imported into the country.
According to media reports “the lower
chamber took the decision to forestall the adverse consequences
which alleged indiscriminate import waivers granted to some
companies on certain commodities by the Federal Government have
on the economy and the people of Nigeria.”
Th
This is the document referred to in the Witness
Statement on Oath of Clifford O. Kokogho as
“Exhibit
COK.2”
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