Customs confirms plan to auction 7,000 uncleared vehicles

NCS Area Comptroller of Ports Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML), Festus Oyedele Okun, put the number of the vehicles manufactured before 2013 at 7,000.

NCS Public Relations Officer (PRO), Tin-Can Island Port, Uche Ejesieme, told The Nation that the vehicles would be moved from the ports and bonded terminals to the government warehouse in Ikorodu for auctioning, if their importers fail to pay the right duties as required by the VIN after 90 days.

He explained that the movement of the vehicles will begin once the terminal operators generate Uncleared Cargo Lists (UCL) to enable the NCS to declare the overtime cargoes.

According to Ejesieme, the service needed space inside the ports to facilitate legitimate business.

“So many factors are responsible for the huge number of vehicles inside the ports. It is not just about the VIN. Some of the importers may be having issues with their banks and others may be having domestic challenges. But our prayer is that they should get the money to come and clear their vehicles,” he said.

“Our major assignment is trade facilitation. We need the space inside the port to transact legitimate business. The terminal operators are yet to give us the uncleared cargo lists to tell you the exact number of vehicles inside the port but they are many.

“We hope the owners will come and clear them before they would be declared as overtime cargoes. Once we do that, the vehicles will be moved to the designated terminal in Ikorodu where they will be auctioned to members of the public when the government decides.”

The Federal Government has been losing huge revenue as importers had resorted to shipping their vehicles to neighbouring countries, especially the Benin Republic as a result of the controversial VIN.