Car dealers applaud closure of land borders on car importation

Tayo Oladipupo |

Car dealers have stated that the closure of land borders against car importation into Nigeria has helped auto business to thrive better.

Recall that the Federal Government, through the Nigeria Customs Service banned importation of vehicles from neighbouring ports within the West Africa region.

The aftermath of the policy implementation which has yielded positive results to revenue drive of the government has been commended despite lull in cars sales in the last six months.

Speaking with newsmen in Lagos, Moses Ilima said the initiative has helped to restore the fortune of Nigeria within the region even as he averred that land border closure has brought about a boom in customs’ revenue collection

He said, “What it has done for us is that the closure of border has really helped us a lot because the money we would have taken to Benin Republic to enrich their citizens will remain here in Nigeria, so it is in a way helping our economy

“After the closure of the border, there is a boom in clearing here.

Asked about the challenge of vehicles sales, he called to the federal government to help lower the charges slammed on imported cars into the country so as to make the business a lot better.

Ilima quipped that the gridlock on the Apapa/Oshodi expressway is negatively affecting the business of dealers within the Berger unit which he described as the biggest in Africa.

He added that the truck drivers have refused to conduct themselves very well which he said has led to the indiscriminate parking on the block.

“You can see a lot of gridlock here which tells you that a lot of clearing is going on through to our detriment and the truck drivers are not conducting themselves very well at all.

“First of all, let the government do something about the trucks in this environment because this problem has been with us for about five to six years and it is affecting the sales of vehicles around this area.

“Berger here is about the biggest auto market in the whole of Africa and if people are finding it difficult to access this place, it is a big problem for the whole nation because we contribute a lot to the economy of this nation.

He also lamented that sales of vehicles in the past few months have not been encouraging but hoped that things would change for better as the year is winding up.

He also attributed the low patronage to the state of the economy.

“The sales generally are dull now but car business is actually seasonal. For about two to three months now, it has been terrible to say the least bit we hope that we have entered September now, it will pick up.

“There is no money in circulation because if there i money in circulation, definitely it will go round. The economy is down generally.

“We keep importing hoping that things will get better and business will move. The closure of land border shifts focus to the sea port.