L
LequteMan
Guest
Nigeria Customs Comptroller-General Colonel Hameed Ali (rtd) has announced that the agency will implement the recently suspended vehicle import duties payment.
According to him, the Customs has consulted widely with relevant stakeholders in the industry about the issue.
Speaking in an interview in Abuja on Friday, he said the policy is not all about the revenue it will generate for government, but also for security reasons
”We want to ensure that we capture virtually all vehicles and tie vehicles to ownership because of the criminal nature of things happening in this country.
“Somebody can pick your car and go and commit armed robbery or another offence because we do not have the data, we cannot trace the car to the owner. But if every car is tied to the owner, it would make crime detection easier.
“I can tell you today that there are cars on our streets that have not been registered and there are people with different number plates in their houses. They just attach the number plate on any car they decide to drive and zoom off. This is simply not right.
“For those of us who have lived in the United States of America, your plate number is your identity. Once they compute your plate number, everything about you will be reflected there. That is the position we want to be in this country.
“We are consulting and we want to get to that level. We just create the level that capturing the data will be easier for us. The issue of verification is necessary because of the security situation in the country.
“Also, there is the revenue aspect. You will not deny that we need all the legal money that we need in this country today. It is going to be tasking on us all, but the payment of dues in some country is necessary.
“We need to understand that some countries survive on tax. It is only in Nigeria that we shy away from paying our dues and people question why they should pay.”
According to him, the Customs has consulted widely with relevant stakeholders in the industry about the issue.
Speaking in an interview in Abuja on Friday, he said the policy is not all about the revenue it will generate for government, but also for security reasons
”We want to ensure that we capture virtually all vehicles and tie vehicles to ownership because of the criminal nature of things happening in this country.
“Somebody can pick your car and go and commit armed robbery or another offence because we do not have the data, we cannot trace the car to the owner. But if every car is tied to the owner, it would make crime detection easier.
“I can tell you today that there are cars on our streets that have not been registered and there are people with different number plates in their houses. They just attach the number plate on any car they decide to drive and zoom off. This is simply not right.
“For those of us who have lived in the United States of America, your plate number is your identity. Once they compute your plate number, everything about you will be reflected there. That is the position we want to be in this country.
“We are consulting and we want to get to that level. We just create the level that capturing the data will be easier for us. The issue of verification is necessary because of the security situation in the country.
“Also, there is the revenue aspect. You will not deny that we need all the legal money that we need in this country today. It is going to be tasking on us all, but the payment of dues in some country is necessary.
“We need to understand that some countries survive on tax. It is only in Nigeria that we shy away from paying our dues and people question why they should pay.”
