A Port Harcourt-based economic analyst, Bobmanuel Ibifiri has warned the Federal Government against the withdrawal of the operational licence of Intels Nigeria Limited, a logistics services company.
Ibifiri also frowned at the revocation of the residence permits of the expatriate staff of the company.
He stated that the move was detrimental to the country’s economic development, saying that it might hamper the funding of the 2018 Appropriation Bill.
Ibifiri, who is the president of Rivers Enterprenuers and Investors gave this warning in a chat with The Tide in Port Harcourt, Tuesday.
He noted that Intels presently employs a good number of Nigerians, stressing that expelling them from the country would throw more Nigerians into economic hardship.
According to him, “Intels employs a minimum of 20,000 Nigerians, and any issues with them, to my mind, should be resolved on a round table and not to try to throw them out of the country”.
He further said, taxes being paid by Intels and its subsidiary companies into the Federal Governments’ coffers, by this development if not rescinded, would be cut off, which he explained would create a gap in the nation’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
Ibifiri further said: “Setting immigration on the expatriate staff and giving them two weeks to leave the country was not the best line of action to take .
“It is capable of portraying the country in bad light and would also cause a setback to the economic gains of the past quarters especially now that Federal Government has hinged its Internally Generated Revenue on the private sector”.

By: Tonye Nria-Dappa.