Dealers under the auspices of the Lagos State Motor Dealers Association have directed its members to shut down all car lots in Lagos State in solidarity with the current strike action of Customs clearing agents.
According to a statement by Olanira Tia, general secretary of the association, which was seen by BusinessDay, the decision to join the striking clearing agents was reached at a general meeting held on Thursday, February 24, 2022.
According to Tia, the association decided that all members should shut down their car lots (autos sales showrooms) on Friday, February 25, 2022, from morning till 12 noon, in solidarity with the current strike embarked upon by clearing agents against the sharp increase in the costs of clearing cars at the nation’s ports.
“Auto dealers should understand that this body is fighting our course because the higher the cost of clearing a car, the more unaffordable it becomes. It was also decided that any auto dealer that fails to abide by this decision will have his/her showroom locked up by our task force till Monday,” Tia stated.
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Recall that clearing of imported vehicles from the roll-on roll-off terminals at the Tin-Can Island Port has since Monday this week been put on hold as all registered freight forwarding associations operating at the Lagos Port withdrew their services over the issues associated with the newly introduced Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) Valuation System by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
According to them, the new Customs valuation system has been generating wrong and outrageous values for imported cars, thereby making it difficult for dealers to pay.
