The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) on Tuesday petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari, accusing the Minister of Trade and Investment, the Board Chairman and Managing Director of Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) of attempt to destabilize the free trade zones through the reform it is proposing.
In a petition signed by ASCSN Secretary General, Alade Bashir Lawal, the Union said it “forward to you the memorandum on the “desperate attempt by the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo to subvert the activities of the Free Zones Scheme in Nigeria.
“We hereby plead with Mr. President to painstakingly look into this submission and urgently intervene in the matter with a view to saving the country from being ripped off through ill-advised policies that have the potential of satisfying individuals rather than the country as a whole”, the petition noted.
The union further accused the NEPZA Board and the Managing Director of the agency of complicity: “We are very suspicious of the role of the Chairman of the Board, Alhaji Adamu Fanda since he is a close political associate of the Honourable Minister, Otunba Adeniyi Richard Adebayo, and the Managing Director, Prof. Adesoji Adesugba in all these.
“It appears that they were brought to NEPZA to supervise the dismembering of the Authority as a body. Few days after their resumption, they Ministry made attempts to transfer some zones to OGFZA. The attempt failed woefully.
