Your Directive On Old Vehicles Is Unrealistic, NLC Blasts Custom Boss

The Nigeria Labour Congress has called on the comptroller general of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Hameed Ali to review his directives on custom duty for old vehicles.

In a letter to the Ali, the president of the NLC Ayuba Wabba said the directive by the customs boss is unrealistic.

The Nigeria Customs had in a statement said owners of all vehicles, old and new whose duty has not been paid should do so between March 13 and April 12.

But in his letter, Wabba said Nigeria workers are opposed to the new policy.

He said the policy will create an unimaginable chaos and suffering for innocent end-users of vehicles.

“It is self-serving and will, in the end, enrich unscrupulous customs personnel who contributed, in no small measure, to the present situation through act of commission or omission and will amount to rewarding their complicity,” Wabba said.

Wabba added that it is common knowledge that duties on imported vehicles are payable at the points of entry.

He also said that subjecting end-users of vehicles to such trauma 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,” he said.

The NLC noted that porous borders, as customs claims, 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.

“We believe such a response should focus on capacity building, modernizing operations, using technology and eliminating massive corruption in the system,” he said.

Source: Naij