NLC Rejects Customs' Import Duty Order on Old Vehicles

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said the re­cent policy of initiated by Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd), directing all motor deal­ers and private owners of vehicles whose customs duty has not been paid, to do so between Monday, March 13 and Wednes­day, April 12, 2017 as un­realistic and self-serving.
NLC in a statement signed by its President, Ayuba Wabba, and made available to The Authority, said, “We oppose this new policy for the afforested reasons: It is logistically-callous and will create un­imaginable chaos and suf­fering for innocent vehicle end-users.

“It is self-serving and will in the end enrich un­scrupulous Customs per­sonnel who contributed in no small to the present situation through acts of commission or omission. It will amount to reward­ing their complicity.”
Ayuba further said, “It is common knowledge that duties on imported vehicles are payable at the point of entry. Subjecting vehicle end-users to this kind of trauma majorly of whom have no hand in the importation of their vehicles is unfair and un­acceptable. There is no in­formation on the vehicles to be excluded from this exercise. This presupposes that the owner of a Morris Minor or a Peugeot 404 brought into this country in the 70’s is similarly af­fected.
“Beyond this, a state of mental siege is being created by all manner of endless verification and re-certification exercises in the country.
It is thus morally wrong to inflict on the citizenry this kind of discomfort.
“We strongly advise that the Nigeria Customs Service shelve this plan. Lessons ought to have been learnt from the vio­lent outcome of the bru­tal raids of Ota market and the ambushing and extorting of money from vehicle-owners on the highway at yuletide sea­sons. Porous borders, as the Customs claim, are no justification for these ac­tions or proposed policy action.
“Accordingly, in place of this unpopular policy which has received con­demnation from all sec­tors of the economy, the Nigeria Customs Service should devise a coherent response that will deal with these challenges. Such a response, we be­lieve, should focus on capacity building, mod­ernisation of operations, use of technology, massive corruption in the system and inspiration/incen­tivisation of officers and men in order for them to deliver on their mandate as well as meet annual tar­gets.”