Punch
There was a drop of about 40 per cent in the number of imported vehicles that came into the country between January and October this year through the Ports & Terminal Multipurpose Limited compared to the figure for the same period of the previous year.
While a total of 192,287 units of vehicles came into Nigeria in the first 10 months of 2021, only 114,159 units were imported through the same terminal in the same period in 2022. The terminal is responsible for the importation of most vehicles coming Nigeria.
A document obtained exclusively by our correspondent from the Customs Public Relations Officer in charge of the PTML terminal, Muhammad Yakubu, showed that from January to October 2022, only 122 vessels berthed at the ports as against 167 vessels recorded within the same period in the previous year.
Clearing agents operating at the nation’s maritime industry have blamed inconsistent government policies and the newly introduced Vehicles Identification Number for clearing of imported vehicles as reasons behind the decrease.
The PTML chapter Chairman of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Mr Thomas Alor, also blamed the levy imposed on imported cars by the government for the decline, adding that the VIN was not giving them the value they paid for.
He said, “The levy, which they imposed on imported used cars, is what is affecting car importation. What is causing the drop in importation of vehicles is the value in clearance. The VIN valuation is not giving us the value, which we are paying now.
“What made the value high is because of the levy imposed on older vehicles; it is the reason for the high cost of clearance of those vehicles. When we started the VIN valuation, we were paying normal duty with the percentage of the duty until the government now imposed levies on old vehicles, which now increased the prices.”
A former Chairman of NAGAFF, PTML chapter, George Okafor, said the reduction in importation was more than 40 per cent.
Okafor stated, “It is no longer news that we have almost 61per cent reduction in importation of vehicles, it is very clear and open, it is an open fact and it is caused by policies. The VReg (Vehicle Registration System) is causing problems; as I am talking to you now, to get VReg is hard and without it you can’t access anything. So, all these are making things difficult for clearing of cargoes and vehicles out of the ports; it is not a hidden thing.
“We are in a situation where a ship will come and will deliver almost everything in Cotonou and the little one we have here will be difficult to clear.”
He said smaller vehicles that cost about N500,000 to clear now required over N1m, which was responsible for the high cost of cars in the market.
