Senate stops Customs from collecting duties on old vehicles

The Nigerian Customs Service, has been asked to put on hold, its proposed plan to collect duties on all vehicles in the country, including old ones.

In its resolution on Tuesday, the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, said that, Customs should drop the move until its Comptroller-General, Hameed Ali appeared before it, to explain the idea behind the collection of the old duties.

In a motion ably moved by the Deputy Senate Majority Leader, Bala Ibn Na’Allah and seconded by Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West), the Lawmakers said, it was a tough task for people to start searching for zonal offices of areas where their cars were bought several years before.
Na’Allah noted that, in cases where the cars were bought from dealers, it was unfair to make people suffer for the mistakes of such dealers if the proper custom duties were not paid initially.
Recall that the Nigeria Customs had in a statement from its Acting Public Relations Officer, Joseph Atta, told owners of vehicles, who did not pay Customs duty to do so between March 13 and April 12.
The statement reads in part: “All persons in possession of such vehicles should take advantage of the grace period to pay appropriate dues on them, as there will be an aggressive anti -smuggling operation to seize as well as prosecute owners of such smuggled vehicles after the deadline of April 12.

“For the avoidance of doubt, all private car owners who are not sure of the authenticity of their vehicle’s Customs documents can also approach the zonal offices to verify with a view to complying with the provision of the law.’’