Business

Businesswoman Laments As Customs Auctions Imported Vehicle

Businesswoman laments as Customs auctions imported vehicle

A businesswoman, Adetoro Olowe, has accused the Nigeria Customs Service of selling off a vehicle she imported from the United States of America, and whose duties she had fully paid for.

Theharmattannews learnt that sometime in 2019, Olowe imported a Mercedes Benz Dodge Sprinter with chassis number WD5PD644345651104, but could not immediately clear it due to ill health.

The Osun State indigene, who noted that she eventually cleared the vehicle at the port, explained that by then, it had been moved to Ikorodu by Customs.

The woman, who is also a clearing agent, said all efforts to get her vehicle out proved abortive despite paying all necessary fees, adding that the agency auctioned the vehicle without her knowledge.

She said, “The bus was shipped to Nigeria in 2019. I was not feeling fine when it got to the country, but about three months later, I paid the Customs duty.

“When I paid, the telex from the shipping company got delayed, which made the vehicle enter overtime.

“I had already exited the job from the Customs gate, but it was just for me to pay the shipping company and take delivery of my vehicle.

“When I wanted to take the delivery in 2020, they said that Customs had moved the vehicle to their Ikorodu terminal, where they keep overtime vehicles. I asked them what I should do next, and they said that since I had paid all Customs duty and exited from Customs gate, I had the right to process it.

“I went to Ikorodu and saw the bus there. I met an officer, who said that I should go to Harvey Road, Yaba, for clearance. When I got there, they saw my documents and said that they would send the clearance to Ikorodu and that I would take delivery of the vehicle there. However, when I returned to Ikorodu, they started giving me different excuses that prevented me from taking possession of my vehicle.

“I liaised with an officer there and I kept calling him to know when my vehicle would be released, but it was one excuse after the other till 2021.

“I returned to Ikorodu with my husband in May and met one officer Ado, who brought out a gazette and said that Customs do not use the overtime clearance we collected from Yaba again and then asked for my vehicle’s chassis number, which I gave him.”

Olowe added that when the officer checked the chassis number in the gazette, he told her that she had to write an application asking for the delisting of the vehicle from the gazette. She wrote the application and it was sent to Abuja after she had paid N20,000 to have the letter delivered.

The agent noted that things took a new turn when the letter got to Abuja and it was not processed.

“I called the officer in charge of my documents to ask what was delaying my work, but he told me that they had decided to auction my vehicle. I told him that he could not auction my vehicle because the law says if you’ve paid Customs duty, Customs doesn’t have the right to auction such a vehicle.

Business

CAC threatens to shut down PoS operators as deadline for registration expires

The Corporate Affairs Commission has said it will work with law enforcement agencies and other legal means to shut down recalcitrant Sales Operators who fail to register their businesses as its 60-day deadline lapses.

The Commission disclosed this in a notice Friday on its official X handle.

This comes after CAC on July 7, 2024, issued a 60-day deadline which expired on Thursday, September 5, 2024, for all PoS operators to register their businesses.

CAC noted that there was inadequate compliance with its directive, noting that those who decided not to register may be engaging in unwholesome activities.

“The Commission notes inadequate compliance with the directive for formalization when viewed from the background of the large number of POS operators in the country. Those who have taken steps to formalize in line with the Commission’s directive are commended for their positive attitudes.

“Recalcitrant operators have refused to adhere to the advice for formalization due possibly to engagements in unwholesome activities or for some reasons best known to them.

“We are here to make it clear that the Commission is working with Law Enforcement Agencies and other relevant stakeholders to deploy a comprehensive enforcement and sanction framework that may include not only possible shutdown but other severe legal Consequences.”

Meanwhile, the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria, AMMBAN, recently challenged the CAC’s registration directive.

Business

Dangote’s petrol to flood market from Sept 15 — NNPCL

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has announced that Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, from the Dangote Refinery will begin to flood the market starting on September 15, 2024.

This development follows the refinery’s commencement of petrol refining earlier in the week.

In a statement signed by the NNPCL’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, on Thursday in Abuja, the company clarified that petrol prices would now be determined by market forces.

The statement addressed speculations about price control, reiterating that the downstream sector had been fully deregulated and that NNPCL would no longer fix fuel prices.

Adedapo Segun, NNPCL’s Executive Vice President of Downstream, emphasised that foreign exchange (forex) illiquidity had been a major factor influencing PMS price fluctuations, which are now regulated by the free market as mandated by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

Segun also noted that the current fuel scarcity should ease within a few days as more filling stations recalibrate their systems and resume selling PMS.

He cited Section 205 of the PIA, which established that petroleum prices are governed by market forces rather than government intervention. The exchange rate, he added, significantly impacts fuel prices.

Regarding the supply of petrol from the Dangote Refinery, Segun stated that NNPCL was preparing for the September 15 timeline when products would be available for distribution.

He assured Nigerians that NNPCL is working closely with fuel marketers to ensure stations remain open and well-stocked to meet demand, while measures are being taken to prevent product diversions.

Segun’s comments come on the heels of the Federal Government’s announcement of an impending boost in petrol supply over the weekend, as vessels had started offloading while reaffirming that PMS prices would not be fixed by the government.

Business

PMS Prices are determined by free market forces—NNPC Ltd

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has stated that foreign exchange (forex) illiquidity has been a significant factor influencing the fluctuation in prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which are governed by unrestricted free market forces, as provided for in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021.

Speaking on TVC News’ “Journalists’ Hangout” show on Thursday, the Executive Vice President of Downstream, NNPC Ltd., Mr. Adedapo Segun explained that the current fuel scarcity was expected to “subside in a few days as more stations recalibrate and begin selling PMS.”

He said Section 205 of the PIA, which established NNPC Ltd., stipulated that petroleum prices were determined by unrestricted free market forces.

According to him, “The market has been deregulated, meaning that petrol prices are now determined by market forces rather than by the government or NNPC Ltd. Additionally, the exchange rate plays a significant role in influencing these prices.”

On the commencement of lifting PMS from the Dangote Refinery, Segun said that the NNPC Ltd. was awaiting the September 15th timeline provided by the Refinery.

Segun, who said no right-thinking individual would be comfortable with the current fuel scarcity, added that the NNPC Ltd. has nearly a thousand filling stations nationwide and was collaborating with marketers to “ensure that stations open early, close late, in order to maintain adequate fuel supply to meet the needs of Nigerians.”

He assured Nigerians: “We are also engaging relevant authorities to ensure products diversions are prevented and timely deliveries to all stations are ensured. The scarcity should ease in the next few days as more stations recalibrate and begin operations.”