Nigeria's biggest vehicle handling port; the Port and Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML) has not received any vessel in the past one week due to the effect of the federal government's auto policy on importers of used vehicles.
Clearing agents operating at the terminal lamented to Shipping Position Dailythat there is even no hope of any vessel calling at the port this week, even as they said that this has never happened in the history of the terminal.
Nigeria's biggest vehicle handling port; the Port and Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML) has not received any vessel in the past one week due to the effect of the federal government's auto policy on importers of used vehicles.
Clearing agents operating at the terminal lamented to Shipping Position Dailythat there is even no hope of any vessel calling at the port this week, even as they said that this has never happened in the history of the terminal.
One of the clearing agents who is a member of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Olorogun Andrew Ugwi said that the last vessel that visited the port; Grande Africa, only came in with 45 vehicles as against the usual 2000 vehicles that comes into the terminal aboard the ship.
Olorogun Ugwi lamented that customs officers are now idle in their offices because there is no work to be done.
He said that since the beginning of 2015, vessels only visit PTML port two times in a month, "the last vessel that came here a week ago is Grande Africa and it came with only 45 cars"
"Nigerian importers are now afraid because Nigerian government does not know what they are doing, importers are afraid of bringing in cars when they are not sure if anybody will buy them, the 35% duty and the coming 35% levy is scaring them away" he told one of our correspondents.
Also speaking on the development, Public Relations Officer of ANLCA at PTML, Mr. Gani Adeola blamed the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC); Abdullahi Dikko Inde for the drop in activities at the port.
Adeola said that the CGC gave the Federal Government an impression that maritime stakeholders are cash cows that can be milked by all means to get revenue.
He alleged that the Customs boss, usually arrogantly set extra targets for himself, promising to collect more money than the target given to him by the government.
"What kind of boss will hear you saying that you will generate more revenue that he will not be happy, the CG should be blamed for bringing us to where we are today, all he wants is to collect revenue for the government and he even promised to collect N2trillion for 2015" he said.
On his part, Secretary of the Boardof ANLCA; Prince Taiye Oyeniyi, said that it is normal for the economy of any nation to undergo recession during a period of election.
According to him, the number of vehicles coming to PTML port has reduced as a result of the inconsistencies in government policies, and the uncertainties about the coming 2015 elections.
"Political atmosphere in the whole world is tied to the economy of a nation, what we are experiencing is not strange and it is not new, it is envisaged because the maritime sector is an organ of the economy, and we must remember that Nigeria is an importing economy"
"It is not only the auto policy that is causing cars not to come through PTML, other policies have been introduced, when you bring in a cargo today, you don't know how tomorrow policy will be and this is why importers are scared" Oyeniyi said.
He advised that the only solution to Nigeria's dwindling economy is transition, "let them build on a policy over the years, not that they should introduce fresh ones whenever they like"
Also speaking, a chieftain of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF); Mbuba A.C confirmed that there is low activity at the port because importers don't want to import for fear of losing their money.
"There is low activity as a result of the election and the dwindling value of the naira, it is more than a week now and we have not seen any vessel at the port, this is the first time this is happening
"I am here standing and cracking jokes instead of working, the implication of this is that people depending on us will now be affected, the implication goes beyond us" the NAGAFF chieftain said.
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