The Federal Government has been advised to make an official position on the emission scandal rocking automobile giant; Volkswagen over its products emission level.
Specially, the international community has passed a vote of no confidence on the German automobile manufacturer, a situation which also elicited worries among Nigerian car dealers.
The Federal Government has been advised to make an official position on the emission scandal rocking automobile giant; Volkswagen over its products emission level.
Specially, the international community has passed a vote of no confidence on the German automobile manufacturer, a situation which also elicited worries among Nigerian car dealers.
Although investigation revealed that Volkswagen presence in Nigerian automobile market is visible, dealers stressed the need for the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to take a stand, even as they advised the agency and other relevant authorities to monitor, inspect and test Volkswagen products imported into the country from any part of the world.
The car dealers who spoke with Auto Port Weekly last week in Lagos appealed to the government to put in place measures before such cars find their ways into Nigeria.
Chairman, Autoplex and Company, Mr. Franklin Idah accused SON of not reacting to the latest development.
Idah said that there is need for the SON to advise the public on the hazards and implications of importing vehicles that do not meet emission requirements.
He lamented that Nigeria standards agency; Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has remained mute on the emission scandal rocking automobile giant, Volkswagen.
He recalled that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had recently discovered that some Volkswagen diesel engine cars on sale in that country had devices that could cheat emission tests, adding that there is need for relevant authorities to swing into action.
Auto Port Weekly however recalls that Dr Joseph Odumodu, the Director General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria had assured that it will state its position on the Volkswagen (VW) emission scandal last.
Odumodu, who made statement penultimate Sunday in Abuja in an SMS to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said that the relevant government agencies were “working out something.’’
NAN had asked the SON’s helmsman why the federal government was silent on the matter and whether the country was not at risk.
He said: “we are at risk and we are working out something, but it involves more than one agency.
“Next week you will be notified of our position, but currently, the standard emission in Nigeria is at the very basic level.
“While Nigeria is at level 2, Europe for example is at level 6,’’ Odumodu told NAN.
NAN recalls that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had recently discovered that some Volkswagen diesel engine cars on sale in that country had devices that could cheat emission tests.
The EPA’s findings cover 482,000 cars in the U.S. alone, including VW brands such as Audi A3, Jetta, Beetle, Golf and Passat.
The German car giant had since owned up to the malpractice, admitting that about 11 million of its cars worldwide were fitted with the technology dubbed “defeat device’’.
Many countries, including South Africa, had reacted to the scandal by carrying out investigations to test the legitimacy of VW’s emissions claims.
Mr Aminu Jalal, the Director General, National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), attributed Nigeria’s silence on the scandal to the status of its emissions standards.
Jalal told NAN that the country was still at Euro 2 (the second level of the European emissions standards), while VW cars affected in the scandal cheated on far higher levels.
He said: “we are still at Euro 2. Even if those vehicles that are cheating abroad are imported to Nigeria, it is likely that their emissions would not be violating Euro 2.
“When they cheat on Euro 5, it means their emission levels are in violation of Euro 4 or 3, but Nigeria is currently at Euro 2.
“This is why we can’t say that they have breached our regulations until we carry out our own investigations.’’
The NADDC boss said that Nigeria was still at Euro 2 due to a number of factors, including the quality of our fuel, which he said, could not support higher standards.
He explained that the quality of fuel was one of the bases of emission standards, adding that Nigeria must first increase its fuel standards to attain higher emissions regulations.
“Emission standards go hand in hand with fuel quality. Our fuel quality is not good enough to support higher emission regulations.
“The specification for sulphur in our fuel standard is too high. Currently, it is 3000ppm (parts per million) for diesel and about 1000ppm for petrol.
“For us to go for an emission standard higher than Euro 2, we have to bring down the specification for sulphur in our fuel.
“We are already working with SON to bring it down to 50ppm, then we can have more rigorous standards like Euro 4 and 5,’’ he said.
Jalal called for the modification of the nation’s refineries to enable them produce high quality fuel.
But, also responding to the silence of SON ,a dealer at Berger Market; Achusim Ibeh maintained that SON and other sister agencies must ensure safety of vehicles imported into the country for buyers’protection.
" If those cars are here in Nigeria then a crime has clearly been committed here irrespective of whether our emission standards are different from what has been discovered in Europe or America"
"If you sell a product to me with falsified information/specifications, then you have breached our agreement, " he added.
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