An investor got N32 billion for vessels, which he never delivered, Transportation minister said yesterday.
Rotimi Amaechi said the unnamed investor fled after collecting the cash during the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration.
Amaechi, who spoke yesterday in Abuja when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, did not name the investor, the Nation reports..
Amaechi said about N300 billion was released to encourage investors in the maritime sector by the last administration but the many went down the drain.
He said:
“In fact, there is a particular man who collected N32billion and left the country. I don’t think that the Federal Government needed to release N52bn to investors in the maritime industry.
The money was paid from the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), which indigenous ship owners last month urged Amaechi and Acting Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Director-General Haruna Baba Jauro to speak on.
Amaechi lamented that NIMASA had nothing to show for the N63billion revenue it generated in 2015.