The Chairman of the Organised Private Sector of Nigeria, Dele Oye, has called on the federal government to either suspend the implementation of the Free On-Board valuation on imports by the Nigeria Customs Service or exempt businesses involved in production and manufacturing from the policy.
On Wednesday, NCS Spokesperson Abdullahi Maiwada announced in a statement that the NCS was to begin implementing a four per cent charge on the Free On-Board value of imports.
Oye, who is also the President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture, said the recently announced implementation of the charge would place an additional burden on industries that are yet to recover from recent economic reforms.
He made this position known on Thursday in a live interview. “We are just coming out of reforms, and industries have not fully recovered,” he said. “I would appeal that they either suspend that (FOB charge) now or at least let it focus on people who are buying luxury goods.”
