Car dealers have blamed the high duty rate for clearing imported goods, including vehicles, as the reason 533 units of vehicles with duty paid value of N2.92bn were seized by the Nigeria Customs Service between January and November 2023.
The dealers, while speaking with The PUNCH separately on Wednesday, said the high duty rate introduced by the Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria had pushed car importers into finding ways to manipulate the importation of vehicles instead of going through the normal procedure.
Earlier this month, The PUNCH reported that duties payable on imported goods at Nigerian ports have gone up following the hike in the exchange rate for cargo clearance by the Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria. It was also reported that the recent hike made it the fourth time the exchange rate for cargo clearance was raised this year.
The CBN had in June, adjusted the exchange rate from N422.30/$1 to N589/$1. In July, it was adjusted to N770.88/$1, while in November; it was adjusted to N783.174/$1.
Giving an update on vehicle importation in the country, the National Public Relations Officer of the NCS, Abdullahi Maiwada, said that 533 units of vehicles with duty Paid Value of N2,919bn were seized between January and December 2023.
“The number of vehicles seized from January to November 2023 was 533 units and the duty paid value stood at N2,919bn,” Maiwada said.
However, reacting to this, the Secretary-General of Lagos State Motor Dealers Association, Tai Olaniran, said, the high duty rate for imported goods including vehicles, has forced vehicles imported to devise ways of smuggling vehicles in.
“The government is not serious, and why I said that is because they are supposed to bring down the duties for clearing of goods including cars like what is obtained in other countries. If you pay lesser duties it would discourage smuggling or bringing the vehicles through unapproved routes and the government would also make more money,”
According to him, “If the duties are high, it would encourage smuggling and this would continue. NCS can’t fight smuggling. The duties keep going higher, you have to buy dollars at a higher rate to bring in these goods and you are also clearing at a higher rate.
“We dealers have resolved to buy Nigerian-used vehicles; we no longer buy direct tokunbo. The duty should come down because everyone needs transport, which would help the government make more money. If the duties are low, people would not smuggle, even if they do, it would be minimal,” he said.
Also speaking, a car dealer with Mezie Motors at the popular Berger Automobile Market, Mr Chinonso Amariwu, said, “The impression that high duty rate has increased smuggling is true. One of our colleagues here has fallen victim to that. He was deceived; his car was not cleared properly, so his car was intercepted by officers of the NCS on his way to Abuja. So, the hike in duty rate has encouraged a lot of people to bring in vehicles through unapproved routes. So, this is the major reason they seize these cars,” he argued.
