The Federal Operations Unit C (FOUC) of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has urged car dealers in the South-East and South-South zones to take advantage of the three months window to regularise duty payment for vehicles improperly imported into the country.
Controller, FOUC, Mike Ugbagu, during a meeting with auto dealers, assured that the duty would be reasonable and not high as being erroneously insinuated.
Ugbagu told the dealers with representatives from various locations such as Enugu, Onitsha, Aba, Port Harcourt and Calabar, that the window being offered by NCS is a lifetime opportunity to prevent their vehicles from being seized.
Noting that vehicles that entered into the country through illegal routes can be seized at any time, the comptroller implored the dealers to utilise the three months’ window for payment of duty to regularise their customs papers.
“The duty is even coming without penalty because the vehicles have been used in Nigeria. The valuation unit will give duty reduction,” he assured.
The Chairman, Car Dealers Association, Aba, Prince Adulphus Duru, while asking that Customs operation should be limited to borders and not along Nigeria’s major roads, expressed fear that the duty would be too high for them to afford, but the Controller FOUC assured that the duty is issued without penalty since the vehicles have become Nigerian used.
