Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo has expressed worry over the importation of used vehicles popularly known as Tokunbo vehicles into the country which gulp over 8 billion US dollars yearly .
According to him, this money is going out of the country, while millions of Nigerians are unemployed .
The Vice President who was represented by the Director General of the National of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Jelani Aliyu at the Abuja International Motor Fair in Abuja on Tuesday also lamented that at least over 500,000 used vehicles come into the country yearly .
He further said that most of these used vehicles are well over 10 years old, unsafe and polluted.
Osinbajo said the trend must be reversed because most of the companies in the country produce vehicles.
“We should learn from countries like South Africa ,India ,Asia and other nations that has proven that local Automotive sector can be developed”
He said the Federal Government is committed to building Automotive industry, sighting an example of the N-Power, a powerful presidential initiative that is dedicated in training Nigerian youths in various skills .
The Nation’s number two man explained that this year alone ,the FG in collaboration with NADDC has trained over 3,200 youths in the mecha-tronics .
According to him, the objective is to unlock powerful capabilities and develop highly skilled Nigerians for the Automotive sector .
On his part, the General Manager, Marketing and Corporate Communication, Coscharis vehicle company Babarinde Abiona lamented that government agencies are frustrating private companies as customs are embarrassing them in terms of bringing in raw materuals and marketing their vehicles.
According to him , “We pay our tax , we pay our normal duty fees to the customs. We shouldn’t be suffering the same fate as others who don’t pay their tax.
“We are constantly intercepted by customs and it is affecting our business”
He called on the NADDC DG to intervene by calling on a meeting with the agencies such as customs, Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and others for interaction .
