Automobile dealers under the auspices of Association of Motor Dealers of Nigeria (AMDON) have appealed that the nation’s land borders should be reopened for the importation of cars, arguing that the seaports are too congested for the business of vehicle importation.
The President of the AMDON, Metche Nnadiekwe, who said this in a chat with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos last week, also advised the government to ensure that duties are collected from vehicles coming in through the land borders when they are reopened.
Metche also reiterated that the tariffs placed on imported vehicles into the country should be totally reduced, adding that high rate of tariffs on imported vehicles is one of the reasons dealers are suffering.
Explaining further, he said that most times, the amount you spend in clearing a vehicle in Nigeria is almost the same as what it will cost you to buy the vehicle abroad.
“My advice for the coming government is that they should open the Seme Border of this country for the automobile market because this place is too congested for this business. They should open the borders and collect their duties, reduce the clearing cost and allow the business to move on. I don’t know what is wrong with this country, the tariff should be entirely wiped-off and the duties should be reduced for Nigerians to have a good breath of air”
“We are suffocating, you will go and import a car and the price of clearing the car is almost the same thing with the actual cost of the car. What is going on and yet we don’t have good roads, steady lights and all that. The government has to look seriously into the cost of clearing the goods; people borrow money to clear their goods and the cost of borrowing money is very high. Most times, the bank will find it difficult to borrow the money to you even after banking with them for years”
Also speaking on the recently postponed general elections, the Berger automobile market boss said that dealers in the market lost billions of Naira as buyers didn’t show up, saying that a lot waited to see the outcome of the election before they can think of buying a car.
“Here at Berger, it (the election) affected us the way it affected other areas, a lot of people are not buying cars any longer they are waiting for the election to come and go before they start spending their money, no sales, it is really disheartening. Our people are suffering, no money to buy the car to sell”, he lamented.
He blamed the government for not considering lots of people who travelled to their veracious states to cast their votes before postponing the electing, even as he added that a lot of lives were lost.
“Honestly, I have to think that the reasons are best known to them, but it is not the best for the market and the nation in general. Because we can recount the number of millions and billions that were lost because of that postponement, a lot travelled with the impression to go and cast their votes and come back. There were lots of lives lost as a result of people travelling to vote at their different states, they were supposed to put all these into consideration yet they cancelled the election. If the election is for the good of the country, I don’t mind, but if it is not them something should be done. Nigerians deserve the best; they have the right to a good government in this country”, he argued.
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