Oluyinka Onigbinde
Findings by Shipping Position Daily have revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari recently declined assent to the controversial Customs Excise Management Act (CEMA) amendment bill because certain clauses in the bill did not meet international standards.
Recall that Buhari declined assent to the bill, raising observations on 24 clauses and some Schedules in the bill as passed by both chambers of the National Assembly.
Specifically, the President said he disagreed with clauses 4(b), 7(2), 7(3), 10(1)(a), 10(1)(b), 12, 14(1)(g), 16(3), 17(4), 18(1), 18(3), 18(6)(c), 111(3), 165(5)(a), 170(1)(a), 171, 175(1)(2), 180, 181, 184, 189, 194, 279, 181 and the schedule.
However, speaking with our correspondent, the National President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Mr. Lucky Amiwero, confirmed that the President rejected the CEMA amendment bill because the bill didn’t meet international standards.
Amiwero, who was once a member of the Presidential Committee on the Nigeria Customs Reforms, and who has about 40 years experience in the maritime sector, stated that the clauses identified by the President were not in line with international best practices.
He added that the clauses were offensive and not too good for trade. He also alleged that the Minister of Finance was not carried along in the drafting of the bill.
He said: “The bill is not too good for trade, the Minister was removed, that’s the Minister of Finance, so there are a lot of things that have been done and it is not a good thing for the trading public
“There is a lot of usurping of powers, a lot of things that were done there, so it is not a good bill to be used for trade in the trade community.
“The problem is that they are very offensive clauses, it is more than 20; the clauses that were rejected, there are many other things that are the three, so the CEMA itself is not in line with international best practices, that is why we have to do a lot of work to make sure that the bill was rejected” he said.
However, reacting to the criticism the Zone ‘A’, Public Relations Officer, of the Nigeria Customs Service; Mr Uche Ejesieme, said that the review of CEMA, was not intended to be anti-clearing agents or any other group but to upgrade some of the extant laws to align with current global realities.
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Ejiseme said: “I stand a better chance to inform us that there was a consensus between the committee from Customs led by the Legal Adviser, comprising members of the National Assembly Committee on Customs, legal drafting experts from the Ministry of Justice and representatives of the Minister of Justice, to effect some corrections in the proposed bill.
“Let it be on record that the review was intended to upgrade some of the extant laws to align with current global realities and nothing in the CEMA is intended to be anti-clearing agents or any other group for that matter. And so it’s not a case of outright rejection but a mutual agreement with the parties to effect necessary corrections to enable us have a perfect document.
“The legal drafting experts in that meeting are the best the ministry can afford and they really demonstrated legal expertise.
“Same for the committee from Customs that were carefully selected from a team of highly cerebral and very senior officers; most of whom are part of the modernization team of the Service.” he stated.
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