An indigenous automaker, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited, is still producing vehicles with the full complement of its workers, and has not shut down its plant in Nnewi in Anambra State.
The firm, in a statement, said this was contrary to a report that it had suspended production and sacked its workers due to the foreign exchange crisis, affecting businesses across the country.
The IVM, however, said like many other manufacturers in the country, it was experiencing low production occasioned by scarcity of foreign exchange to import vital components.
The statement, signed by the firm’s Public Relations and Media Assistant, Cornel Osigwe, assured that the automaker was hopeful that the Federal Government would soon find a lasting solution to the forex challenge.
It described the report as “a deviation from the interview granted by the Chairman of the Innoson Group, Innocent Chukwuma, granted to Reuters news agency, which was correctly published by them, but was totally distorted by the some other news platforms”
Highlighting what it said was the correct position, the statement added, “Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Co Ltd has not shut down its manufacturing plant and is not planning to do so. In as much as the company is experiencing low production due to the inability to get the required volume of forex to source for its vehicle components outside Nigeria, it still has absolute faith in the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s ability to fix forex scarcity problems.
“Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Co Ltd has not laid off its workers due to the low activities in production. Rather, what Chief Chukwuma said was ‘I believe they (Federal Government) are doing something but if they can’t do anything, we will lay off some workers,
“Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Co Ltd believes in the Federal Government’s drive to boost the manufacturing sector and is aware that this present forex scarce challenge is a phase that will soon pass.”
