Following the federal government’s ban on vehicle importation through the land borders, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said that investors have a new investment window through which they can import vehicles legally through the seaports across the nation.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO), Seme border Customs Area command, Mr. Selechang Taupyen who made this known in a chat with Primetime Reporters in Lagos said that the federal government through the NCS had given express room and permission for investors to enter into bond, get a bonded car park as obtainable in neighboring countries where they could import vehicles, take it to the car park where people come to buy them from there and pay their duty to customs and go home with their vehicles undisturbed.
Taupyen noted that this practice would mean that the nation’s revenue is secured and that the country would be better for it economically as the unemployed youths would be gainfully employed.
He said, “So, that avenue is there because once it is being explored, you will discover that economically, the country will be better for it, will be buoyant, all our unemployed youths will be employed and I feel that is a better policy that people that are not aware of misinterpret it wrongly.
“We keep saying, we don’t want to be hinging on our neighboring countries, as long as the international transit protocol is not respected by our neighboring countries, I feel that is a minus for us because people go there, buy these vehicles and smuggle it in, not all vehicles that come in through there are handed over to us here and so, there are instances, we even had one recently where the customs headquarters had to move into a car park and arrest expensive and exotic vehicles, some of them are bullet proof, over ten. By the time you value those vehicles, you can imagine the kind of revenue that this country will be losing over only one car stand.
“And so, I feel that opening that is being given by the federal government is a good one for the Nigeria Customs Service, it is a good one that investors can explore”.
On why this window was not made public before now as many people would have loved to explore it to advance their trade, the command spokesman said, “I know the National PRO has dwelt on that severally. I have read over the news his press releases on such; the Comptroller-General of Customs has also said something on that issue. My Customs Area Controller here has also on many occasions tried to educate and sensitize people through the Customs Community Consultative forum, through the Joint Border Security meeting, unfortunately, some of them, the Customs Community Consultative forum, you are dealing with people of lower classes, Joint Border Security platform, and they are all government agencies and security platform.
“So, we are talking about investors who are into business. So, one wouldn’t know the reasons why they are not coming forward. I wouldn’t want to give reasons for them anyway”.
While saying that the licensed customs agents can’t be the investors, Taupyen however added that if they are buoyant enough to get the bond, it could be approved even as he said that the federal government is more interested in the security of the country as measures would be taken to ensure that the said investor is a bonafide Nigerian or an investor that would bring about economic development of the country and engaging the unemployed.
“It is not only restricted to the border areas, even within the hinterland, in any of the states, in all the six geopolitical zones as long as you can secure those vehicles from here. So, we need such facilities and there is an opening for such facilities, the only thing is that people are not taking advantage of those facilities”, he said.
On procedures of getting the bond, he advised that the customs headquarters would be available to provide anyone who is interested in having a satellite bonded car park with the procedures and requirement for getting one.
Editor’s note: The Management of Primetime Reporters regrets the embarrassment caused the Public Relations Officer (PRO), Seme Customs Area Command, Mr. Selechang Taupyen when we cast our initial headline suggesting “importation of vehicles through the land borders” instead of importation of vehicles through the seaports as he said. The error is ours and is hereby regretted.
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