The Chairman, House Committee on Customs and Excise, Honourable Leke Abijide, has asked lawmakers to engage their constituents on the need to stop car smuggling in Nigeria.
Honourable Abejide was speaking during an interface with the Nigeria Customs Service on Trade and Tariff, about the time and amount expended on Customs clearance and transfer of imported goods.
The House Committee Chairman, implored the Comptroller General of Customs to give Nigerians especially Ministries that may have erred by buying their vehicles through smuggling three months to pay their duties and regularise their papers or go to jail.
He said the essence of the interface, is to facilitate trade and the ease of doing business in Nigeria and asked the ministry of finance to provide scanners for automation of the Customs Service.
Another member of the House Committee, Honourable Ibrahim Mohammed, had stressed the need for decongestion of the ports which according to him, can be facilitated through limiting the number of stops to three instead of six.
He said though the Customs Service has done a lot in revenue generation, there is a dire need for them to do more to ease the suffering of importers.
Earlier, Assistant Comptroller General, Trade and Tariff, ACG Aliyu Seidu, had accused Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government of aiding smuggling of vehicles and asked the law makers to assist them fight the menace which is militating against their efforts.
He warned that presently, the Customs law says, such cars will be seized and their owners jailed.
ACG Seidu, emphasized that though the Customs Service has embarked on e-project that will enable Nigerians clear their goods from any part of the country, it however, does not mean leaving the system unchecked.
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