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ECOWAS warn against xenophobic attack in subregion
Association of Motor Dealers of Nigeria (AMDON) has written a letter of objection to the Federal Government on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sponsored study entitled “Study for the Development of a Regional Framework for the Harmonization of Fuel Grade and Vehicle Emission Standards in ECOWAS Region, Final Report”.
The letter, which was addressed to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, that received in the minister’s office on 23rd November, 2020, noted that the policy wants to ban importation of cars older than five years in order to control carbon emission.
If approved, according to the document made available to The Nation, it is expected to take effect on 1st January, 2020.
Meanwhile, the association said “If approved and implemented as proposed, the regulation will likely have significant negative economic consequences for Nigerian consumers and the economy and will likely have minimal environmental and health benefits for many years to come.”
The Nation learnt from the AMDON National President, Prince Ajibola Adedoyin in Abuja, that the association is already battling for the extension the Nigerian Auto Policy of 10 years manufacturing for cars and 15 years of manufacturing for trucks for affordability and accessibility.
He added that the ECOWAS policy also wants to adopt a particular grade of biofuel in order to reduce emission from vehicles.
Adedoyin said “There is a meeting that ECOWAS had and they were talking about biofuel. They have them in grades. They are saying that there is a certain grade of biofuel because of the green revolution they are trying to do, they want to reduce emission from cars.
“They now want to encourage the West African countries to make sure that any car they are bringing in should not be more than five years of manufacturing. And the trucks should not be more than 10 years of manufacturing. We feel it is not tenable or workable most especially for the African countries.”
According to him, African region simply wants to please the Western World to implement the policy that will make transportation inaccessible and unaffordable.
He said the policy will take a toll on the people’s economy since the Federal Government is not known for buying vehicles for the citizenry.
The AMDON boss cautioned the ECOWAS not to make the mistake of imitating countries that have a system in place for credit facilities.
Commenting on the autogas Programme that the President Muhammadu Buhari launched on Tuesday, he said, it will supplement the use of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) for fueling vehicles.
The National President urged the government and users to be more careful with fueling vehicles with gas because Nigeria’s temperature is higher than that of places where it is used.
He described gas as a highly inflammable fuel that high temperature can easily propel to cause havoc.
He challenged the government on putting safety measures in place before implementing the gas for vehicle policy.
