Our reporter/ The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last general election, Peter Obi on Tuesday urged the federal government to end the inconsistency in duty charges as it is affecting the general business atmosphere.
The former Anambra state governor, who made the call in a series of tweets in his X handle, said the ever-increasing customs duties now negatively impacts business and cost items which portends a huge danger to the economy.
Obi further stated that the government should also show consistency in its policies as this will help with economic forecasting and business planning.
According to him, businesses are dying and manufacturers are shutting down because of the poor and inconsistent economic policies of the government.
“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”, Obi said.
“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”.
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