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Tag: Shippers’ Council

  • Shippers Council seeks removal of trade barrier

    Shippers Council seeks removal of trade barrier

    The Nigerian Shippers (NSC) has called for the removal of trade barriers in Africa.

    Its Executive Secretary, Mr Hassan Bello, made the call during the inauguration of the Interim Working Committee of the West Africa Road Transport Union (WARTU) in Lagos.

    He said regional transportation required integration, harmonisation and standardisation.

    “This is the reason the meeting is being structured because the volume of trade within the African sub-region is not very high. The volume of trade within the Central African region is representing one per cent, comparing with that of Europe which stands at 70 per cent. We need to look at ways of improving trade within the sub-region and there are so many things to trade on among us, “he maintained.

    Bello noted that Nigeria’s trade was supported by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), laws and protocols which had been guiding the effective operation of trade in the region.

    According to him, the Council had been playing a critical role in ensuring that the institutions and bodies were supported in one way or the other.

    He also commended the National Road Transport Owners (NARTO) for its involvement in laudable activities.

    He expressed the Council’s readiness to give the newly-inaugurated committee the necessary support to meet its aspirations.

    In his inaugural address, WARTU President Mr Ogbogo Aloga, lauded the Council for the role it played in ensuring a level-playing ground among stake-holders.

    Aloga said the role of transportation in the African sub-region could not be over emphasised. This, he said, necessitated the inauguration of the WARTU committee.

    He was quoted in a statement issued by NSC as saying: “This is a welcome development because trade within the sub-region is already moribund and requires urgent restructuring of the trade to boost the inter-regional trade relationship.

    “The integration that is coming now is very important because it will also increase trade on African corridor and remove barrier among the countries,” he said.

    He said the newly-inaugurated body was set to address the issues affecting trade, such as communications, security, and exchange rate among ECOWAS countries.

  • Shippers Council seeks removal of trade barrier

    The Nigerian Shippers (NSC) has called for the removal of trade barriers in Africa.

    Its Executive Secretary, Mr Hassan Bello, made the call during the inauguration of the Interim Working Committee of the West Africa Road Transport Union (WARTU) in Lagos.

    He said regional transportation required integration, harmonisation and standardisation.

    “This is the reason the meeting is being structured because the volume of trade within the African sub-region is not very high. The volume of trade within the Central African region is representing one per cent, comparing with that of Europe which stands at 70 per cent. We need to look at ways of improving trade within the sub-region and there are so many things to trade on among us, “he maintained.

    Bello noted that Nigeria’s trade was supported by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), laws and protocols which had been guiding the effective operation of trade in the region.

    According to him, the Council had been playing a critical role in ensuring that the institutions and bodies were supported in one way or the other.

    He also commended the National Road Transport Owners (NARTO) for its involvement in laudable activities.

    He expressed the Council’s readiness to give the newly-inaugurated committee the necessary support to meet its aspirations.

    In his inaugural address, WARTU President Mr Ogbogo Aloga, lauded the Council for the role it played in ensuring a level-playing ground among stake-holders.

    Aloga said the role of transportation in the African sub-region could not be over emphasised. This, he said, necessitated the inauguration of the WARTU committee.

    He was quoted in a statement issued by NSC as saying: “This is a welcome development because trade within the sub-region is already moribund and requires urgent restructuring of the trade to boost the inter-regional trade relationship.

    “The integration that is coming now is very important because it will also increase trade on African corridor and remove barrier among the countries,” he said.

    He said the newly-inaugurated body was set to address the issues affecting trade, such as communications, security, and exchange rate among ECOWAS countries.

     

  • Shippers’ council moves to increase patronage at Nigerian ports

    The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) have begun moves to increase patronage in the nation’s ports by sanitising the activities of practitioners.

    The South East zonal coordinator of the council, Mr Chimezie Osita Christian, stated this yesterday in Abakaliki during a sensitisation campaign in the state.

    According to him, prior to this period, businessmen imported their goods through neighbouring countries because they lacked confidence in the country’s ports and how it was being run.

    “But today, the situation has changed as the council have made sweeping changes, which have seen the stakeholders returning to the ports,” he said.

    He said the ports have the capacity of generating huge incomes for the country, especially now that the country’s major source of revenue, oil, is dwindling.

    He said contrary to insinuations from some stakeholders in the shipping industry, the NSC is not a toothless bulldog, as it has in the past sanctioned practitioners for various sharp practices.

    According to him, the council has come up with procedures in the ports, which he said have brought sanity to the hitherto chaotic situation in the industry.

    “The council has been given enormous powers to regulate and to sanction offenders, and we have been doing that.

    “Council has powers from government to make sure people do what they are supposed to do, whether they are in the ports or outside the ports, as long as they have something to do, with the movement of cargo from the ports to the hinterlands.”

    He also debunked accusations by the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) that the council does not have an enforcement unit.

     

  • Shippers Council to make ports attractive

    The Executive Secretary, Nigeria Shippers’ Council (NSC) Mr Hassan Bello is set to stop arbitrary charges to make the ports attractive to business, The Nation has learnt.

    The NSC, sources said, was more determined to close the gaps created by the Federal Government during the concession of the sea- ports to private investors more than 10 years ago.

    The council, it was learnt, has expressed its readiness to pursue the case to a logical conclusion to improve the performance of the ports by regulating charges and making the ports more cost effective.

    A senior official of the Federal Ministry of Transport, who craved anonymity, said at the weekend that the Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi and Bello had embarked on the journey to achieve efficiency at the seaports.

    The era of imposing arbitrary charges that have often been described by importers, exporters and clearing agent as uncharitable, the source said, had gone.

    The NSC, it was gathered, vowed to check excessive charges against importers to reduce prices of imported goods and make the ports competitive and attractive for business.

    Bello told The Nation that the council would deliver on its new mandate.

    The council, Bello said, was determined to meet the expectations of Nigerians in port operation, efficiency and port charges.

    He assured genuine importers that  irregularities and arbitrariness in the ports system would be addressed.

  • Shippers Council insists on 48-hour cargo clearance

    Shippers Council insists on 48-hour cargo clearance

    To ensure that the ports are not congested, the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) is insisting on 48-hour clearance of goods.

    At a meeting with terminal operators, Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) officers and other stakeholders, NSC Executive Secretary Hassan Bello argued that meeting the cargo clearance deadline was the only way to free the ports.

    Bello is also seeking an amendment of the NSC Act to strengthen its control of traffic, rates and related economic charges at the ports.

    “The Act establishing the NSC to needs to be amended by the National Assembly to enable “NSC enforce fair trade practices to protect rights and balance interest of providers and users of ports services as it is required to do in Section 3 of its establishment Act”, Bello said when contacted.

    According to him, the council’s aim is to provide platforms for cargo clearance to make the ports more efficient.

    He urged stakeholders to resolve the challenges of quick cargo clearance, saying: “The idea is that the NSC is the referee in this friendly contest, and the more we interact with the service providers and government agencies, the better understanding we will get.”

    The council, he said, is focusing on trade facilitation and quick cargo clearance to boost government revenue.

    Bello said: “We need automation in our ports instead of doing things manually. We need to streamline these processes and develop standard operating procedures, and check the presence of government agencies at the ports on what they are doing, and the Customs to also up their game in automation.

    “They have led the way, but we need other stakeholders to come and buy in. So, we are doing a lot of consultations while we supervise and moderate. Customs has been leading in so many areas of what our ultimate aim is, which is automation, providing platforms for cargo clearance so that our ports will become efficient.

    “The trade facilitation issue they have pioneered is something very commendable and it is a starting point.”

    He suggested the streamlining of cargo clearance procedures to ensure the ports are more competitive with others in West and Central.

    “Nigerians ports are in competition with other ports within the sub-region, so we have to streamline our clearance procedures – the way we do business so that we attract more cargoes to Nigerian ports.”

    “We need to develop standard operating procedures. We need quality services to ensure that there is a balance in relationship between service providers and users in the industry,” he said.

  • Shippers Council insists on 48-hour cargo clearance

    Shippers Council insists on 48-hour cargo clearance

    To ensure that the ports are not congested, the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) is insisting on 48-hour clearance of goods.

    At a meeting with terminal operators, Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) officers and other stakeholders, NSC Executive Secretary Hassan Bello argued that meeting the cargo clearance deadline was the only way to free the ports.

    Bello is also seeking an amendment of the NSC Act to strengthen its control of traffic, rates and related economic charges at the ports.

    “The Act establishing the NSC needs to be amended by the National Assembly to enable “NSC enforce fair trade practices to protect rights and balance interest of providers and users of ports services as it is required to do in Section 3 of its establishment Act”, Bello said when contacted.

    According to him, the councils’ aim is to provide platforms for cargo clearance to make the ports more efficient.

    He urged stakeholders to resolve the challenges of quick cargo clearance, saying: “The idea is that the NSC is the referee in this friendly contest, and the more we interact with the service providers and government agencies, the better understanding we will get.”

    The council, he said, is focusing on trade facilitation and quick cargo clearance to boost government revenue.

    Bello said: “We need automation in our ports instead of doing things manually. We need to streamline these processes and develop standard operating procedures, and check the presence of government agencies at the ports on what they are doing and the Customs to also up their game in automation.

    “They have led the way, but we need other stakeholders to come and buy in. So, we are doing a lot of consultations while we supervise and moderate. Customs has been leading in so many areas of what our ultimate aim is, which is automation, providing platforms for cargo clearance so that our ports will become efficient.

    “The trade facilitation issue they have pioneered is something very commendable and it is a starting point.”

    He suggested the streamlining of cargo clearance procedures to ensure the ports are more competitive with others in West and Central.

    “Nigerians ports are in competition with other ports within the sub-region, so we have to streamline our clearance procedures – the way we do business so that we attract more cargoes to Nigerian ports.”

    “We need to develop standard operating procedures. We need quality services to ensure that there is a balance in relationship between service providers and users in the industry,” he said.

  • Shippers Council and economic recovery

    For over four decades, the Nigerian economy has mostly depended on proceeds from the sale of crude oil. This is at the expense of other sectors such as the ports sector, which in so many developed climes, contribute significantly to national economy. It is an undeniable fact that the ports sector can play a pivotal role in the Buhari administration’s economic recovery efforts not only because of its capacity to help combat poverty through job creation but also because of its forward linkage with other critical sectors of the economy like the manufacturing sector.

    But most importantly, the ports sector could help alleviate some of the problems associated with the disturbing nature of the Nigerian economy that has for too long being vulnerable to fluctuations in global oil prices.

    Interestingly, the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), which regulates economic activities at the ports, is beginning to show signs that it can lead key stakeholders in the sector to raise non-oil revenue substantially from what obtains at the present.

    To do this, the Nigerian Shippers Council has put together the New Port Order, a frame work designed to check inefficiency, leakages at the ports and trade malpractices that include false declaration and under-declaration of imported goods, among others. At the heart of this initiative is the introduction of the advanced cargo information system otherwise known as Cargo Tracking Note (CTN), which is a bold attempt to end decades of trade malpractices in which government loses billions of revenue annually.

    That’s not all. The Nigerian Shippers Council is also vigorously pursuing the establishment of  Inland Container Depots (ICDs) otherwise known as Dry Ports , which is strictly meant for safe keeping of cargoes for owners before final take-over by consignees after payment of custom duties.

    An ICD is an equivalent of a seaport located in the hinterland. It receives container by rail from the seaport for examination and clearance by Nigeria Customs Service. It has all the loading and off-loading equipment needed to handle container and general cargo.

    The council believes that with Nigeria’s deep involvement in importation, in which the country is said to be importing almost 90 percent of products it consumes, it is important to build ICDs to address the obvious challenge posed by the limitation of seaport terminals’ space capacity.

    Already, construction of six ICDs by various companies, which have keyed into the initiative are in progress in various parts and geo-political zones of the country. In Kaduna, North-west, the ICD begun by Inland Container Nigeria Ltd (ICNL) is about to take off. In Jos, North-central, Duncan Maritime Services Ltd has started an ICD project and in Isiala Ngwa (Aba), South-east, the Eastgate Inland Container Terminal Ltd has begun another ICD project.

    Dala Inland Dry Port in Kano, North-west, now owns an ICD, with Migfo Nigeria Limited, Maiduguri taking care of the North-east. Catamaran Logistics Limited in Ibadan is expected to bridge up for the South-west, while Equatorial Marine Oil & Gas Limited Funtua has taken up the ICD initiative for the North-east.

    The collaborative seminar organized by the Nigerian Shippers Council and ICNL in Kaduna last week marked a turning point in the actualization of the initiative.

    From the Ministry of Transportation through the management of the Shippers Council to other stakeholders, there was unanimity of opinion that the project would provide stimulus to the economy of the states where the ICDs are sited and the country at large.

    Speaking at the event , NSC’s Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, Hassan Bello said apart from assisting in decongesting the seaports and making them more user-friendly, the ICDs would bring shipping services to the door step of shippers across the nation. He emphasized the socio –economic significance of the ICDs to include reviving and modernizing the railway as a primary mode for the long distance haulage of cargo, as well as assisting in the reduction of overall cost of transit cargo to landlocked neighbouring countries. Establishment of customs clearance facility close to production and consumption centres; and improved container usage and reduction in the movement of empty containers, he said, have also been identified as key benefits of the ICDs.

    Harping more on the benefits of the ICDs, Bello explained: “The success of the ICD projects will definitely ensure greater efficiency of the terminals. This will in turn improve the turnaround time of ships thereby reducing demurrage and eliminating cases of pilferage”.

    To address the challenge of moving cargoes from the seaports to the hinterland, the Nigerian Shippers Council has taken further steps to initiate the construction of truck parks in the cities where the ICDs are being sited. With this development, there will be optimal use of surface transport and the decongestion of the sea ports; reduction in marine pollution activities around the seaport and easy and safe access to international shipping facilities in the hinterland giving a boost   to inland trading.

    There is therefore no gainsaying the fact that the success of the ICDs will also have a positive effect on the country’s agricultural development. Such an initiative can ensure revitalization of export agriculture leading to multi-product economy and provide employment opportunities, stemming urban-rural drift and increase in revenue to the government.

    With the present policy and the strategy it has embarked on, the NSC is prepared to work with the relevant agencies to ensure that Nigeria gets what is due her in revenue while the cost of doing business is reduced to the barest minimum.  The NSC has, as part of its strategy to ensure the smooth take off of the ICDs, reiterated its resolve to enforce regulation among all stakeholders so that they live to their individual and collective expectations at the dry ports as contained in the agreements. This will propel revenue generation and increased income for stakeholders.

    Riding on the new port order designed to check inefficiency, leakages in the harborages, and trade malpractices, and the support of the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, there is no doubt that the Nigerian Shippers Council is positioning itself to rescue the nation by raising non oil revenue to make up for the dwindling returns from oil.

  • Shippers’ Council and change mantra

    Shippers’ Council and change mantra

    The change mantra is percolating to all government agencies and departments. Whilst many thought some agencies have been woken from the slumber by the body language of President Muhammadu Buhari, the wind of change blowing across the ports bespeak a new order at the maritime gateway.

    Before now not many know of the existence of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) as much as they know the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) or the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as a regulatory body.

    But what NCC does in the telecommunications industry and NNPC in the oil and gas sector is what NSC’s role is in the ports and shipping arena.

    Created in 1978 as a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Transport, the NSC last year became the regulator of the ports and shipping sectors of the economy.

    Expectedly, resistance came from some importers and exporters and other stakeholders. But speaking at the Onne and Port Harcourt ports in Rivers State, a few weeks ago, the Executive Secretary of the NSC, Barrister Hassan Bello was unequivocal when he made what is now know in the industry as the Onne and Port Harcourt Declaration.

    Said he, NSC will not tolerate any  monopolistic tendencies among service providers at the import and export entry points, using the Nigeria’s waterways.

    Bello met with  terminal operators in Onne and Port Harcourt ports, with key stakeholders, including West African Container Terminal Nigeria Limited, BUA Ports and Terminals Limited, Intels Integrated Logistic Services and PTOL Terminal Limited. He told the officials that the purpose of the visit was to sensitise them on its roles as economic regulator and  listen to them on the  challenges they face in their operations.

    For him, the primary focus of the new administration at the NSC is to redirect affairs in the shipping industry to reflect global best practices where the enhancement of economic growth, competitiveness and efficient service delivery by all stakeholders remain the operative words/phrases.

    Promising not to compromise these on the altar of any organisation or agency wanting to lord it over the others, Bello seems to have defined the mission and vision of the NSC he heads. Interestingly, it is clear from the steps that have been taken so far that the council as a referee was for all, and will protect the interest of all and not just the shippers.

    The NSC as ports economic regulator is now all out to encourage competition in the operating environment.  This is because of the council’s recognition that economic regulation is central to revamping the lost glory in that sector.

    The most notorious of the issues that NSC may confront commenced in 2006 when the ports were concessioned without a substantive economic regulator hence the excessive charges became the order of the day. Indeed, the ports reform of 2006 yielded little results as concessionaires capitalised on the absence of a regulator to introduce scathing charges that swelled the cost of doing business in Nigerian ports.

     

    Then came the Nigerian Shippers Council as the regulator, an action that was taken as  a conscious and conscientious attempt to monitor and correct any disorder in the working of a free market to address anti-competition behaviours. Since then, the council has focused on market rules; tariffs; quality of service; access and incentives regulation.

    Regulation has led to guaranteed return on investment; increased profitability; predictability in processes and procedures; assurance of level playing ground; availability of Common User Information Service provided by the regulator; strengthening of complaint and arbitra¬tion mechanisms and many others.

    With the reinvigorated NSC, the government stands to enjoy improved revenue generation; improved infrastructural development; creation of efficient market; reduction of cost of doing business; improvement in the nation’s Global Competitive Index and consequent attraction of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

    The major stakeholders too will benefit as the shipping companies under a regulatory framework will have improved delivery of marine and terminal handling services leading to reduced turn-around time of vessel and reduced cost of vessel operations.

    The benefits will include but not limited to, improved image due to increased customer confidence; transparency, efficiency and effectiveness and consequent improvement in image. The presence of an economic regulator ensures the strengthening of complaint and arbitration mechanisms; prompt issuance of Ship Sailing Certificate and the consequent avoidance of demurrage accumulation against shipping companies and other effects.

    Freight forwarders will be compelled to be professional in practice too.

    This on its own leads to elimination of touting, sanitization the port environment; and harmonisation of clearing processes and procedures and the consequent reduction of clearing charges. There is also the strengthening of complaint and arbitration mechanisms.

    For the Nigerian Ports Authority, the presence of an economic regulator will lead to the enthronement of clearer Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) derived from International Laws (Conventions) and Practices.

    The new port order also ensures that the NPA enjoys transparency, efficiency and effectiveness and consequent improvement in image; improved revenue generation; improvement of competitive advantage in the sub-region; strengthening of complaint and arbitration mechanisms, etc. For the Customs, there is also improved revenue generation; enthronement of clearer Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) derived from International Conventions and Practices; improved level of compliance by importers, exporters and freight forwarders and others.

    Globally, the consumer is considered king and the regulator hopes to ensure the harmonization of clearing processes and procedures and the consequent reduction in cost and time of cargo clearing; reduction of Cargo Duel Time, in particular, and generally the trade cycle; strengthening of complaint and arbitration mechanisms etc.

    For the truckers, they enjoy decongestion of port access roads leading to improved truck transit time at ports; there is also the ability of re-fleeting of rickety trucks; instalment of electronic gating and call system guaranteed loading opportunity for truckers.

    One thing that should be clear to all is that competition and collaboration engender in service providers ability to offer efficient services, places consumers of shipping services with the option of choice in the market or industry.

     

    • Ndayebo, a public affairs analyst writes from Abuja.

     

     

     

     

  • MAN chides Shippers Council over tracking note

    The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has chided the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) over the proposed re-introduction of Advanced Cargo Tracking Note (ACTN).

    Its Director-General, Mr. Remi Ogunmefun, said NSC’s decision was a shock to MAN because there was no indication to go ahead with the plan at previous meetings.

    He noted that MAN at a special meeting with the management and Governing Board of NSC in August, expressed dissatisfaction with the proposed re-introduction of ACTN.  He said the OPS took the position based on observed limitations, negative trickle-down effect on businesses and cost-driven implications on cargo clearance. “These observations and other yet to be addressed lapses that motivated the call for its cancellation few years ago is still relevant and we are at a loss as to the sudden detour by Shippers Council. The rationale for dissatisfaction was expressed at several meetings which was formally communicated in writing to the Executive Secretary of the NSC on September 15, 2015, “ he said.

    He urged NSC to convene a broader stakeholders forum that will afford operators along the maritime value chain, especially those that would carry the cost burden of ACTN to technically x-ray its proposed re-introduction.

    He said: “The NSC is yet to address the concerns of manufacturers or those raised by other stakeholders, amend observed lapses, provide alternative remedies or convene a maritime stakeholder’s forum but has resorted to the pages of the newspaper expressing the plans to go ahead with the re-introduction.

    “ln view of the above, necessity is laid on MAN as the voice of manufacturers in Nigeria to publicly express our dissatisfaction and objection to the re-introduction of ACTN in any form as well as place balanced information in the public domain in the interest of thereal sector and the Nigerian economy.”

    He maintained that for the  avoidance of doubt, it is expedient to restate the position of MAN National Council which he said is against the  re-introduction of the ACTN discarded by the Federal Government on the request of the operators within the manufacturing sector in 2013. Furthermore, he said the limitations and technical lapses that rendered the CTN unacceptable to stakeholders and real sector operators that led to its previous rejection are present in the ACTN.

    He also stated that the information required and data that the proposed ACTN intends to collate, as the basis for its re-introduction, are currently available in the domain of government, especially the Nigeria Customs Service Single Window Platform, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigeria Port Authority (NPA), National Agency for Food and Drug, Administration and Control  (NAFDAC) and Nigeria Maritime Management and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

    That the re-introduction of ACTN for the purpose of providing information/data already available with other Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies would amount to mere duplication and at an enormous cost to the manufacturers, importers and other port users, he added.

    He also argued that ACTN implementation comes with associated cost that will further increase the burden of exorbitant cost of doing business for manufacturers who rely on imports for raw materials and machines. According to him this will automatically add to the already suffocating cost structure and render locally made goods uncompetitive.

     

     

     

  • Shippers Council chief makes case for local shipowners in crude oil lifting

    Shippers Council chief makes case for local shipowners in crude oil lifting

    • ‘Review auto policy’

    Can the President Muhammadu Buhari administration end foreign domination of the capital intensive crude oil lifting business and make indigenous shipowners participate in the highly lucrative enterprise? Yes, said the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council, Mr Hassan Bello, and other stakeholders in the maritime industry.

    Bello, who spoke with The Nation at the weekend, said the involvement of the indigenous shipowners in the trade would be in the national interest.

    Their participation, he noted, would provide gainful employment for many Nigerians, reduce crime, generate more revenue and ensure security at sea and around the ports.

    “I have no iota of doubt that the  administration will involve the indigenous shipowners in the crude oil lifting to provide jobs for Nigerians and put an end to foreign domination of the trade. Everybody in the country knows that it would be more profitable for a Nigerian ship to lift our crude and President Buhari led-administration can be trusted to deliver on that agenda,” he said.

    Also, a member of Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA), Mr Fola Badmus, said there are many qualified Nigerians in this field, but that they have no jobs, adding that using foreign vessels was not in the best interest of the nation because when the dependent country has crisis, Nigeria may have challenges lifting its crude.

    He said at the last count, indigenous investments in the sector have created over 40,000 jobs across the hydrocarbon value chain.

    “We will gain about N900 million a day if we use our own indigenous ships to lift crude oil. This is because the country carries more than two million barrels of crude a day at the rate of $2.50 per barrel,” he said, adding that the huge sum would have accrued to the country and created employment for at least 5,000 professionals in the sector.

    “The advantage is that indigenous ships will get their foods, water, tug boats, chandelling, engineers and rags from Nigerians,” he noted.

    Badmus added that the volume of vehicles being imported through the seaports has reduced drastically due to the introduction of the automotive policy by the past administration.

    He corroborated the position of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the yearly general conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) that the hike in Customs duty on imported items has created jobs for the neighbouring Benin Republic.

    He alleged that over 70 per cent of fairly-used vehicles, popularly known as Tokunbo, being imported into the market come through the Port of Cotonou, Benin Republic.

    “The volume of imported vehicles into the country has reduced by half since the introduction of the auto policy,” he noted.

    A senior official of one of the terminals at Tin Can Island Port, Apapa, Lagos, who craved anonymity, said the policy has affected operators at the ports, urging President Buhari to address the issues to bring succour to terminal operators dealing with imported vehicles.

    “Before the introduction of the policy, we were discharging 5,000 or 6,000 vehicles every month. It is a pity that we are doing less than 1,200 vehicles and we have to service our equipment, pay NPA and salaries at the end of the month.

    “We have noticed that the number of vehicles coming into Cotonou has increased dramatically, so we are losing business while Cotonou is gaining. Everyone can understand what this  means and we know that Cotonou’s population has not increased from its 10 million people.

    “This policy is surely affecting the port industry and this is affecting the economy of the country because we read in one of your reports about few weeks ago that smugglers are using many un-approved routes around Idiroko border in Ogun State to bring their vehicles into the country,” he said.

    He said many Nigerians could not afford to buy brand new vehicles and urged the Federal Government to review the auto policy.