The suspension of the implementation of the 4% Free on Board (FOB) levy on imports not withstanding, majority of Nigerian freight forwarding professionals want outright cancellation of the levy.
Already, an activist group, Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders, Importers and Exporters Coalition (SNFFIEC) has condemned the introduction of the levy, describing it as ‘wicked’ at this time of hunger and high prices of essential commodities.
Addressing a section of the maritime media on Wednesday in Lagos, the National Coordinator, SNFFIEC, Chief Osita Chukwu Ph.D, stated that there was never a time that stakeholders agreed with the Nigeria Customs Service on the 4% FOB levy on imports.
He lamented the current level of suffering of Nigerians, saying that the levy if allowed to stay would further impoverish the already pauperized Nigerian people.
The Save Nigeria National Coordinator berated the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr. Olawale Edun and the Comptroller General of Customs Adewale Adeniyi MFR, for their failure to give quality advice to the government at this precarious time.
Without mincing words, he called for the resignation of the two main actors in the 4% FOB debacle.
Wondering why anybody would want to put additional burdens on Nigerians whose economic fortunes have plummeted, Chukwu vehemently opposed the suspension for further consultations, saying that the levy should be outrightly scrapped.
It would be recalled that on Tuesday, 11th February, 2024, Nigeria Customs Service announced through a press statement that the implementation of 4% Free-on-Board (FOB) value on imports as provided in Section 18(1)(a) of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCSA) 2023 has been suspended to allow for ongoing consultations with the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister
of the Economy, Mr Olawale Edun and other stakeholders.