* Describes action as policy summersault

Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin

The Group Managing Director (GMD) of KAM Holding Ltd and Vice President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Dr. Kamoru Yusuf, has decried the Federal Government’s reversal of the 43 items banned by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, describing the decision as a policy summersault, which should be promptly reversed in the interest of the nation’s economy.

Dr. Yusuf, who gave the condemnation in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, while fielding questions from journalists, said the effect of the reversal and removal of ban on the 43 items would cause serious setbacks in the production sector.

The GMD recalled that the ban policy was initiated in 2015 by the administration of former Present Muhammadu Buhari to encourage the non-oil sector and manufacturers to increase the GDP and to create jobs which drive many investors to inject energy into backward integration.

The MAN Vice President, who is also the Chairman, Basic Metal, Iron and Steel and Fabricated Metal Products Sector, lamented that the federal government’s action would impact negatively on virtually all the critical facets of human endeavours such as unemployment, youth restiveness, wrong declaration at the ports, importation and flooding Nigerian markets with substandard products and the proliferation of arms and ammunition in the country.

He said: “Most financial institutions are really confused, and this policy if not quickly reversed, may lead to the distress of some banks, while massive loss of jobs is equally looming.”

He called for the immediate review of the policy surrounding the free trade zone in Nigeria, saying that apart from the fact that it has been seriously abused, it has added little or no value to the nation’s economy in generating the much needed foreign exchange.

“Government needs to investigate and harvest the comprehensive list of the companies that registered under the free trade zone, inclusive of the value of their investments.
It is observed that 60 percent of the goods coming into the country from Asia continent are finished products which can be valued at around USD800 million of which some of them are substandard. As a result, the Nigeria Customs Service is losing about 300 billion naira which was supposed to be generated through Duty Revenues every month as some of the products were imported under the guise of the free trade zone.

“More over, the law governing the Free Trade Zone prevents the Federal Inland Revenue (FIRS) from generating taxes on all the goods brought in through the Free Trade Zones.

“It is worthy to note that these goods will be sold in naira and the importers want to repatriate the money back to their country in dollars and they have no other source of getting the money than to go to the black market window because the goods were brought into the country dishonestly. Therefore, they can afford to buy the dollar at any rate because they already have export rebates from their country for the finished goods exported to Nigeria,” Dr. Yusuf lamented.

To stop these shoddy acts, the GMD admonished President Tinubu to mandate the Minister of Trade and Investment to appoint an agency to look into the statistics and number of companies registered under the free trade zone, conduct audit into what they are doing and what they intend to do, adding that data can be obtained from the Nigeria Customs Service for the values of goods coming into the country through the free trade zone.

He added: “All the importers claiming to be manufacturers/investors in the free trade zone are the biggest scammers in Nigeria, causing problem in the FX black market as they are bringing the products of their parent companies into Nigeria under the guise of free trade zone without any payment of Taxes and duties, while all the goods end up being sold within the Nigeria Customs’ territories.

“President Tinubu should order the Nigeria Customs Service, which has a robust platform, to submit the list of importers who have been bringing goods into the country in the name of free trade zone and their respective value(s) since 2018-till date in order to justify the amount they have repatriated out of Nigeria in the name of Free Trade Zone without any payment of duty or taxes to Nigerian government. Even those expatriates that produce in the Free Trade Zone using our local mineral resources are not bringing dollars, nor are they paying appropriate taxes to the Nigerian government.
Instead, what they are doing is repatriating dollars out of the country.”

On Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mill, the GMD cautioned against placing the great national asset in the hands of foreigners, saying there are capable Nigerians who can make Ajaokuta Steel to run in full capacity in the same way it was done with cement production.

He said: “There will be no reason for the government to be worried about bringing Ajaokuta back to life. We have the resources as a nation and we also have expertise who can make it work. We don’t need foreign investors to do it. Ajaokuta can be back again to produce automobile cars and other associated raw materials for downstream industries.”