Senator Buruji Kashamu has reacted to the directive by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN) for the Economic and Financial Commission (EFCC) to investigate the contractual agreement between his company, Kasmal International Services limited and the Nigerian posta Service (NIPOST).

Kashamu, in a reaction by his lawyer, Ajibola Oluyede in Abuja Wednesday, argued that the directive amounted to a clear criminal contempt of the Federal High Court which had on the 24th of February 2016 in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/100/2016 made an order restraining the AGF and the EFCC from “from interfering in a purely contractual relationship between Kasmal and NIPOST.”

He noted that the Federal High Court in its judgments in Suits Nos. FHC/L/CS/1462/2013 (between Kasmal and the 22 Deposit Money Banks – DMBs) and FHC/L/CS/1710/2013 (between KASMAL and the Central Bank  of Nigeria – CBN) had interpreted the Stamp Duties Act LFN 2004 and the NIPOST Act LFN 2004 and found that the Stamp Duties Act made provision for the exemption of certain documents (including receipts for teller deposits and electronic transfers by Deposit Money Banks for sums of 1000 Naira and above) from payment of stamp duties if the documents have affixed to them 50 Naira postage stamps bought from the NIPOST.

“The two actions were brought by KASMAL as public Interest actions to ensure that the banks remitted the 50 Naira to NIPOST after NIPOST had appointed KASMAL as its agent.

“NIPOST as a statutory agency with exclusive authority to produce postage stamps in Nigeria has always operated through agents and pays them up to 20% as commission from collections made for sale of postal services including sale of postage stamps. KASMAL’s position is no different from this and it was agreed that if KASMAL could open up this stream of revenue from the DMBs for use of NIPOST postage stamps to denote stamp duties on receipts for teller and electronic transfers, KASMAL would be entitled to N7.50 from every N50 it collected.

“Although we have no doubt that right minded observers will see the injustice in the move by the AGF’s office to deprive KASMAL of the fruits of its efforts, we believe that the directive by the AGF is mischievous and calculated to bring the judicial process into disrepute. We will bring this unlawful abuse of office to the attention of the court at its next sitting on this matter on the 17th of April 2016,” he said.

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