The Managing Director, Gold Link Investment Services Limited, Sir Tony Anakebe has called on the Federal Government to revisit the practice where the Management of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) auction people’s consignment considered as overtime cargo describing it as outdated.
Speaking in an interview with Primetime Reporters in Lagos recently, Sir Anakebe pointed out that round the world, goods were not auctioned in the manner it was done in the country arguing that it was wrong for the service to collect a 20 feet container and sell to one man at a paltry sum of N200, 000 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira).
He maintained that rather than auctioning the consignment at a giveaway price, the importer should be made to pay the duty of what he had brought as well as pay the penalty incurred as a result of delays in the customs ports and then take his consignment and go.
According to him,” round the world, goods are not auctioned in that form, you can’t just collect a 20 feet container and sell it to one man at N200, 000 and he starts to sell to other people. Get the importer to pay the duty of what he has brought. If he brought a consignment and the official duty is N500, 000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira), the penalty should be another N500, 000. He pays and carries so far he is doing it for the economy of the nation”.
“If he can pay one million naira and carry it, let him carry it. If he couldn’t pay one million naira, the right thing to do is to compensate him and destroy. Stop auctioning people’s goods. Auction is outdated”.
“Few weeks ago, the customs published the list of 2000 containers that have over stayed in the ports, just one section of the ports and they were asking the importers to come and clear them. Why are they holding them? Because nobody could raise the money to go and clear them and now customs wants to auction those containers”.
“Please, I am asking the Federal Government to look into this; they should allow them because of the delay in so many things in the ports and the delay in the economic policies of this nation since the beginning of this year. They should give a grace period of about a year or more than six months for people who have goods now who cannot raise the money to clear them so that the people can take their goods”, he added.
