Chairman and Managing Director of Atlantic Bisco Motors, Banji Akinola has urged President Bola Tinubu to save private business from collapse by reducing import duty and taxes.
Speaking on the sidelines of the reception in honour of his late mother, Janet Akinola in Ado-Ekiti, Akinola urged government to review the duty and taxes imposed on private businesses .
Akinola described his mother as a generous person “She impacted our lives positively and taught us to be generous…”
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He said: “I have been importing goods from Europe and America into Nigeria in the last 30 years.The Customs duty is so unfriendly and since the President assumed office about two months ago, Customs has increased duty two times and the exchange rate, which was N420, is N850. Many importers have been pushed out of business
“This started during President Muhammadu Buhari regime, we pay as much as N2.5 million to clear a car, we used to pay N400,000.
“Before now, I can put 40 to 50 vehicles in a ship, infact, in a year, I import 500 to 600 but now if I can make 20, 30, then I tried…
“What we are experiencing is over taxation and this has dealt a blow to our businesses. I am trying to diversify because relying on importation is so difficult, the exchange rate and Customs duty is killing”.