Hon. Akin Alabi, lawmaker representing Egbeda/Ona Ara federal constituency at the National Assembly, has expressed concern about the porous nature of the Nigerian Ports Authority.
Hon. Alabi raised the concern over
case of smuggled automobiles in the country and the porous nature of the Ports.
He vowed to draw the attention of other House of Representatives’ members to the anomaly at the plenary session next week.
In a series of tweets seen by InsideOyo.com on Monday, Hon. Alabi maintained a stance that cars imported from neighboring countries, Cotonou, (in Benin Republic), for instance, should not be seized by Nigerian Customs Officers from the eventual owners on the ground of illegality.
According to him, if such cars were illegally shipped into Nigeria, they should should have been checked and impounded at the ports.
‘You import a car from abroad. Your agent tells you the amount you will pay as duty. You pay. The agent connived with custom officers to pay a reduced fee and somehow they clear the car. You drive the car around happily until the day customs officers stop you on the road.’
‘I understand that the cars smuggled in, for example, through Cotonou should be impounded. But when you clear your car properly? I honestly believe you should be okay once it was cleared from the port. You didn’t smuggle it out, it was cleared’, he stated.
Insideoyo.com reports that the federal lawmaker blamed the use of illegal vehicles within Nigeria on the lackadaisical attitudes of officers at the Nigerian Ports Authority.
‘How porous is the port that a car gets smuggled out? If a car is cleared, it should be free PERMANENTLY. It is up to customs to tighten their systems. If someone smuggles a car in, then the car can be held.’
‘I will be taking this up when we resume plenary next week. This is frustrating’, he ended.
Akin Alabi was inaugurated at the 9th assembly last week. He is representing Egbeda/Ona Ara federal constituency in Oyo state on the platform of ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
