Naira devaluation forces importers to abandon Tokunbo cars at seaport – Custom

The ongoing fluctuations in the Naira exchange rate have led to a concerning situation at the seaport, where importers have left thousands of fairly used vehicles abandoned.

Comptroller Dera Nnadi, the Nigeria Customs Service area controller for the Tin Can Island Command, revealed this while speaking with members of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA).

Nnadi decried the continuous decline in cargo throughput at the command.

He pointed out that the number of vehicles processed by the command had significantly decreased from 32,000 in 2018 to a mere 4,000 units in 2023, marking an 85% drop in just five years.

“There are several vehicles abandoned in the port because the owners are unable to clear them due to high exchange rates.

"Why did you import when you don’t have money to clear’, I asked, but somebody reminded me that the vehicles were imported believing that they were going to exchange money at N420 and suddenly, it is N770 and the owners in America abandoned them saying, ‘we can’t clear them, let them remain there’.

“As of 2018 to 2021, vehicle throughput here was at the peak of 32,000 vehicles a year. It started dropping as from 2020, by 2022, it dropped to as low as 6,000, in 2023, it is 4,000 units,” he lamented.
Dere stated that the Russia/Ukraine crisis had taken a toll on Importation in the country as bulk cargoes that come in from the country stopped coming in.

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Additionally, Comptroller Nnadi cited other factors affecting trade and revenue generation at the command, including a decrease in vehicle imports and high exchange rates.

He expressed dissatisfaction with the trade policies of the former Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele, and pointed out how the war in Ukraine had disrupted various imports.

“There is war in Ukraine: grains are no longer coming; wheat is no more coming; bulk cargo is no more coming; sugar is not coming. My predecessor left here having collected a revenue of 52 per cent of N801 billion in nine months; Godwin Emefiele’s policy was one of the things that caused the delay. Floating of naira when the new government came in is another challenge.

“So, you see that we are all under constraints and you too are under constraints. You wake up from revenue that was anchored on the exchange rate of N420 per dollar to N770 per dollar. This is another challenge.”

Despite these challenges, Nnadi remained determined to meet his revenue target of N350 billion in the remaining three months of the year.

He emphasized the importance of maximizing integrity and ensuring that correct procedures are followed to reduce disputes and demurrage costs for the benefit of all stakeholders.