As a matter of national concern, the Presidential candidates of the main opposition parties at the last general elections, Atiku Abubakar of People’s Democratic Party(PDP) and Peter Obi of Labour Party(LP) are speaking up now. It may not be unconnected to the call Bayo Ononuga made weeks ago, asking them to proffer solutions instead of undue critism of the Tinubu led Federal Government.
Just few days ago former Vice President Atiku Abubakar spoke and today, Peter Obi has made his input to solving an important aspect of our national life..
“I wish to urgently call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to end the inconsistency in duty charges as it is affecting the general business atmosphere in the country. The federal government should stop the arbitrary and ever-increasing customs duties as
“it is now negatively impacting businesses and the cost of items, and this portends a huge danger to the economy. A situation where at the point of initiating importation, Form M and other documents related to importation are based on a particular rate of exchange, for example, N1000 to $1, being the prevailing exchange rate at the time which the importer of goods was used to calculate the entire process, from the import initiation to receipt of goods in his warehouse.
“Then suddenly when the goods arrive in Nigeria, and duties are calculated at different rates, say N1400 to $1, it becomes a serious business challenge that results in business losses. Worse still, it directly fuels the inflationary spike which is the basis of increasing cost of goods and living.
He continued..
“Such arbitrary charges will obviously lead to further closure of businesses, and attendant job losses. This is because at the time of the initiation of the business, calculations, including duties, have been made based on the prevailing exchange rate,..”
see full tweet on his X page below;
