The President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Comrade Abdulwahed Omar, has condemned the National Automobile Policy instituted by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Segun Aganga.
Speaking at the union’s ongoing 12th Harmattan School in Kaduna, Omar said, “It is lamentable that the Federal Government has again come up with a programme that has the tendency to inflict pains on the working people in Nigeria. We were told that Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance has announced a new tariff regime that raises the charges on imported vehicles by 70 per cent.
“While NLC is not opposed to new policy, we hold that coming up with a new tariff barely few weeks to its implementation without viable alternative is not proper. In the least, it would just leave Nigerian people under the grips of some unscrupulous dealers who would lash on the new tariff to create artificial scarcity,” he added.
In a related development the President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) said the policy was not well thought out and harsh.
He said: “Government should graduate the levy gradually, may be yearly and also go further to put in place policies to revitalize ailing industries before crippling the sectoral growth with the ill-thought-out policy.”
Meanwhile car prices are said to be set to skyrocket by as much as 75% due to the new policy. For instance a Toyota Camry that cost N8 million before the policy, could cost upwards of N14 million after car dealers adjust prices on new imports.
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