The 19-member strong Nigerian Auto Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (NAMA) has urged the federal government to cancel a new wave of import duty waivers granted to some unnamed businessmen to import cars into the country, stating that the country stands to lose billions of naira in the process just as the move is against the spirit and letter of the new automotive policy.
In three separate letters written to the President Goodluck Jonathan,the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as well as minister of trade and investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga, and signed by NAMA executive secretary, Arthur Madueke, the car manufacturers complained that the import waiver granted the businessmen would sabotage the new automotive policy launched by the federal government. The new auto policy seeks to create employment for Nigerians through the local assembly and the manufacture of cars.
The letters with subject “Protest and Request for Cancellation of One-year Duty Waiver Concession to Import Vehicles into Nigeria,” sought to remind the government that barely six months ago, “we rolled out the drums to congratulate the federal government on the monumental stride taken to advance industrialisation in this great country when the Federal Executive Council (FEC) announced the National Automotive Policy. Two months ago, President Goodluck Jonathan, launched the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan and the National Enterprise Development Programme. These two projects represent the federal government’s initiatives to industrialise this country, diversify our economy and reduce the stranglehold of developed economies on our people. Huge resources to be channelled into this endeavor.”
The association regretted that “sadly, though, certain elements in our society, in pursuit of personal wealth, are prepared to stop at nothing to scuttle our aspirations to develop as a nation.”
NAMA regretted that despite several pleas to government to demonstrate its commitment to the National Automotive Policy released six months ago by patronising automotive assembly companies that have demonstrated faith in the nation’s economy by investing in manufacturing facilities in Nigeria, government still went ahead to issue a letter of duty waiver valid for one year from February 2014 to certain auto importers, with no investment in the productive sector, to import 290 luxury vehicles for the purpose of the World Economic Summit taking place in May 2014.
“This decision is to say the least retrogressive and outrightly scandalous. Our membership, which have taken a risk of investing in production in Nigeria, is having to face up to our greatest fear that well-placed vested interest in the auto import trade will work to undermine this policy. A duty waiver valid for one year for a one-week event taking place in May 2014, is open border to flood our markets with imported vehicles and destroy the domestic market for locally produced vehicles,” said the association.
“Our members made a representation to the Nigeria Economic Summit team handling the preparation for the World Economic forum to be hosted in Nigeria in May 2014. We undertook to supply vehicles to the summit at our expense and indicated our preparedness to pay duty as may be agreed by government for these vehicles. These letters we submitted to The World Economic Summit Group in January 2014. There was no constructive engagement or response to this offer.”
NAMA then requested for the intervention of the President in getting the government to withdraw the said duty waiver letter immediately and cancel same. “We assure you that genuine capacity exist in NAMA to support the federal government in meeting the auto requirements of the World Economic Forum, without the request for a total duty waiver. Going ahead with this concession will undermine investments in the productive sector. The issuance of an incentive operative for a period of one year to ship vehicles through our borders without a dime duty, tax or VAT payment promises to usher in another era of treasury looting, information that will not go down too well in the public domain in an election year. We reiterate the preparedness of our members to supply the vehicular requirements of the World economic Forum without request for any duty waiver.” NAMA assured that they believed in the transformational agenda of the president and were prepared to stand behind him to thwart efforts aimed at sabotaging his vision and agenda for a prosperous country.
