Secretary to the Presidential Committee, Presidential Committee set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to recover Stamp Duties from 2013 to 2020, Muhammad Kazaure has said that the panel was legitimate and independent.

Kazaure, who is a member of the House of Representatives from Jigawa State spoke on the heels of doubts by the president's spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu on the activities of the committee.

In a statement, yesterday, Kazaure said that the president who set up the committee directed its members to work with the Department of the State Service, DSS, in the investigation, warning that none of his appointees should interfere.

Recall that Kazaure had alleged that some forces stopped him from accessing to submit the one-month report to the president regarding the discovery of over N89 trillion Stamp Duty in three accounts domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

Shehu had in a statement, however, debunked the statement, saying the committee had been dissolved on the orders of the president.

But Kazaure said: "I wish to draw the attention of the general public to a recent statement credited to Mallam Shehu, where he dismissed the committee legitimately set up by President Buhari to investigate activities of the CBN, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc, NIBSS and other financial institutions.

"Ordinarily, I wouldn't join any issues with Mallam Shehu but I will like him to answer these pertinent questions: was he there when the committee was set up? Why was the committee asked not to work under minister or Secretary to Government of the Federation?

"As a Nigerian, no law stops me from carrying out an assignment given to me by the commander-in- chief of the armed forces."

Other members include the DG SSS, a retired DG of NIA, and retired commissioner of police Muhammad Wakili.

"If the committee is illegitimate, why are they collaborating with those around the President to prevent me from gaining access?"