Barely two years after the federal government placed a ban on the importation of vehicles through land borders, it has announced a plan to lift the ban.
Recall that in 2017, the government ordered that all vehicle importation must come through the sea. The policy was aimed at controlling the rate at which cars and other vehicles were being smuggled into the country.
The reconsideration, Blue Print gathered was, spurred by a new initiative, a bilateral electronic connectivity programme developed by the Nigeria Customs Service and the Customs Service of the Republic of Benin. The Comptroller General of NCS, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.) revealed this recently during a stakeholders’ meeting.
The automated platform and bilateral connectivity programme will be deployed on June 20, 2019, but the time-frame to revoke the ban was not mentioned.
According to Ali, who was represented by the Assistant Comptroller, Information and Communication Technology, Benjamin Aber, the successful implementation of the initiative will determine if the embargo will be lifted for land importation of vehicles.
The initiative will enable the Customs of both countries to electronically share information of transported imports from Nigeria and Republic of Benin. The progress and impact of the initiative will be the deciding factor.
