The PTML command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said that it was unaware that officers of the command were collecting 70% duty on all imported used vehicles describing the news as a “fabricated rumour”.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. Steve Okonmah who was reacting to a news report which suggested that the command began collection of the said 70% on all imported used vehicles challenged anybody with documentary evidence of such collection to come up with such evidence.
According to him,” I am not aware of that development. As far as I am concerned, the person is carrying fabricated rumour. If anybody tells you that, ask him to show you documentary evidence. If somebody says he s paying 100%, ask him if he could give you documentary evidence to support it, then you can now say PRO, this is it. But if somebody is coming to tell you, I have started paying 70%, ask him, where is the document to confirm it? And I am not even aware”.
On why the meeting between the officials of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and the Customs Area Controller of the command since he claimed such a collection was not made, he replied,” Let me quickly correct that, there was never a meeting that was triggered off as a result of any increment. We had our normal monthly stakeholders’ meeting yesterday and when we have stakeholders’ meeting, we review everything that will move the command forward.
“We do monthly stakeholders’ meeting. If you had seen the letter, I said January stakeholders’ meeting. So, I have not said ANCLA and moreover, it was not only ANCLA that was at the meeting, it was all stakeholders; Council of Managing Directors, AREFFN, NAGAFF, ANLCA, Chambers of Commerce, they were all there, PTML Terminal Operators were there and all the sectional heads were there. Just as we have been meeting before, we will not say anything triggered off anything and we don’t have private meeting with ANCLA, we had a general stakeholders’ meeting for the month of January”.
He opined that if there was any such adjustment to the amount collected as duty on imported used vehicles, the agents that they knew would have been restless by then.
“All I know is that we have not been given any directive to the contrary. That is all I can tell you, if there is anything to the contrary, it means this is a new development but now we are still what we are”, he said.
Speaking earlier, the Chairman of ANLCA, PTML chapter, Elder Samuel Obe while describing the information suggesting an upward adjustment to the duty collected on the imported used vehicle however said that the Federal Government had given an order from Abuja and that the customs’ system was adjusted to 70%, 20% duty and 50% levy adding that that was the purpose of the meeting the association had with the Controller of the command.
He said, “We had a stakeholders’ meeting with our Controller yesterday and we resolved that we should go back to the old rate and they are still working on it at Abuja. Immediately we finished our meeting yesterday, the signal was sent to Abuja and Abuja is working on it to reverse the rate back to the old one”.
He however disclosed that the system had programmed it that all imported used vehicles from 2010 model upwards would now attract 70% duty while those of them from 2009 model downwards were now to attract 35%.
On what happened on Monday when they discovered that the system had adjusted the duty payable on all imported used vehicles to 70%, he answered,” The customs even instructed us not to go ahead, that was why we didn’t have any work here, we were waiting for the emergency meeting with the Controller. We informed our people not to go ahead to punch, that there was one mistake and anybody that did his job was on his own. But after our meeting yesterday, they are still adjusting the system at Abuja, as soon as the finish with that, everybody can go on with their functions”.
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