The Senate, on Tuesday, halted the proposed plan by the Nigerian Customs Service to collect duties from owners of old vehicles.
The Red Chamber, which debated a motion moved by Deputy Senate Leader, Bala Ibn Na’Allah, stopped the move to collect duties from motorists on Nigerian roads and asked the Nigerian Customs Service to immediately appear before the Committee on Customs and Excise to brief the lawmakers on the need for such policy.
Senator Na’Allah, who moved the motion, said the Customs must maintain the status quo until the Controller-General of Nigerian Customs Service appeared before the relevant committees of the upper legislative chamber to explain the rationale behind the policy.
Na’Allah had told the Senate that he was aware that a recent circular issued by the Nigerian Customs Service had directed all vehicle owners to pay up duties on their old vehicles within a month or risk having the vehicles being seized.
He said the circular, dated March 2, and signed by one Joseph Auta, was issued without clear guidelines as to what category of vehicles would be affected.
According to him, the implementation of the said circular would cause significant discomfort to the law-abiding citizens of Nigeria.
He added that the circular was already causing anxiety within the Nigerian public already.
Na’Allah read the two prayers in the motion thus: “The Senate do, hereby, resolve to direct the Nigerian Customs Service to stop all actions regarding the implementation of the same circular until it appears before the Senate Committee on Customs to explain in details the purpose of the circular to the Nigerian public.
“To direct the Senate Committee on Customs to immediately engage the service, with a view to fashioning out what can clearly be acceptable to the Nigerian public under a democratic dispensation like ours.”
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, Senators Dino Melaye and Phillip Aduda, who spoke on the motion, supported the termination of the proposal as they insisted that the Customs should not be allowed to compound the tension in the society.
Senator Melaye (APC Kogi West), who seconded the motion, condemned the directive by the Nigerian Customs Service, insisting that the policy would not work under a democratic setting.
He said that the policy was capable of corrupting Customs officers if allowed to stay.
He said such move was in place then and it made former President Olusegun Obasanjo to ban Customs from checking vehicles on roads.
Senator Ekweremadu, in his contribution, called on the Senate to resist the new directive by Nigerian Customs Service.
He said the directive was illegal, lacked common sense and retrogressive, adding that punishments could not be meted out over an action taken years ago.
Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, while rounding off debates on the motion, said the directive contravened the law and therefore, could not stand, adding that the Customs needed to come up with the way forward to shore up its revenue.
The Senate President said: “This is a very straightforward motion and our responsibility here is to ensure that we oversight agencies and ensure that they comply with the law. It is very clear that this circular does not meet the requirement of the law. The Customs Committee should quickly look into this matter and come out with a way forward.”