Customs propose banning of vehicles above seven years

The House of Representatives’ Committee on Customs and Excise has proposed the banning of vehicles above seven years.

The lawmakers announced this as they recommended a revenue target of N1.56 trillion for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in 2021, up from the original N1.4 trillion recommendations.

The sum was set for the NCS in 2020 preceding the outbreak of the Covid pandemic that prompted a decreasing review of the target to N1.3 trillion.

The committee decided to boost the figure at a budget defence meeting held with the Controller-General of the NCS, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.), in Abuja.

Controller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Hameed Ali

But Ali discredited that the African Continental Free Trade Area and the World Trade Organisation contracts agreed on by Nigeria were already affecting the revenue of the nation adversely.

Chairman of the committee, Leke Abejide, disclosed that the lawmakers would maintain the targets on duties and Value Added Tax collection as the Customs was able to exceed the decreased target during the lockdowns while the coronavirus pandemic was now over.

Abejide stated, “The 2021 proposal that Customs brought to us; we compared notes of what was presented to us in the 2020 fiscal year and what was collected by the service. There was a proposal of N1.4 trillion.

“When we looked at your new proposal and the kind of noise it will generate when we get to the floor of the House, we don’t want to have problems on the floor trying to pass the budget.

“So, when we looked at what you collected in 2020, which was N1.56tn when you add VAT, it will look somehow illogical for us.”

As indicated by the NCS boss, the more the Federal Government decreases the quantity of used vehicles in Nigeria, the better for the nation.

He said, “We are now working on a policy proposal that will reduce the years of the vehicles that will be imported into the country as used vehicles.

“Our own is to ensure that we have roadworthy vehicles and that is not to say that we want to kill our own home-grown industries.

“It is our hope that our own industries will begin to produce vehicles that we can afford to buy and reduce importation of used vehicles.”