The House of Representatives has reopened its investigation into the alleged diversion of ₦500 million meant for the ECOWAS Inter-State Road Transit (ISRT) scheme by the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM).
At a hearing in Abuja, the Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, Rep. Bamidele Salam, asked both agencies to submit all relevant documents within two weeks or face recovery action by the National Assembly.
The fund was established to support the smooth movement of goods between West African countries under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme. The idea is to allow goods to pass freely through multiple countries without delays or illegal offloading, using customs bonds guaranteed by a national bank—in this case, NEXIM.
NEXIM Bank Managing Director, Mr. Abba Bello, said the bank was appointed in 1998 by the federal government as Nigeria’s national guarantor for the scheme. Since then, it has held the ₦500 million seed fund, most of which was provided between 2016 and 2024 by the Ministry of Transportation.
He explained that the bank invested the money in Treasury bills to grow the fund. As of April 2025, the fund had grown to about ₦539.5 million, including interest earnings of over ₦161 million. About ₦121 million has so far been spent on meetings and project-related expenses.
“The fund is intact and has not been diverted,” Bello stated. “It was placed in interest-earning accounts and used only for activities related to the ECOWAS scheme.”
However, lawmakers raised concerns over delays in the actual take-off of the project. The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transportation confirmed that the scheme is yet to be fully implemented. He added that some of the funds were spent on stakeholders like the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), with approvals from the Minister.
The ECOWAS Inter-State Road Transit scheme was officially launched in 2000 at Seme Border, Lagos State. It aims to boost trade in West Africa by reducing border delays, customs bottlenecks, and illegal charges. Lawmakers are now pushing for more transparency and quick implementation, as the project has remained largely inactive 25 years after it began.
