President of the Association of Motor Dealers of Nigeria (AMDON), Prince Ajibola Adedoyin, has urged the federal government to regulate the importation of fairly used vehicles.
Concerned about lack of verifiable data on stolen cars in the country, Adedoyin wants the regulation to be done only through licensed and registered car dealers in the country.
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While speaking with journalists in Abuja, he said the regulation would halt or at least reduce incidents of car theft in the country.
He explained that the prevailing circumstances whereby anybody can import any brands of car will make tracking of stolen cars difficult.
The AMDON president said if the association is empowered by legislation, the issue of evading Customs at the borders by unscrupulous car importers would be checked.
He therefore urged the government to forward a bill to the National Assembly so as to regulate importation of cars by curtailing rising incidents of stolen vehicles in the country.
While commending the government for reviewing down the tariff on imported commercial vehicles, he said it would be fair to do so for all vehicles imported into the country.
The AMDON president also said the outcry and call for ban of ‘tokunboh’ vehicles by the Nigerian Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) and other Nigerian vehicle assemblers does not hold water.
He said as of now, they have not been able to come up with a locally designed and produced car that will cost as low as N1.5 million.
According to him, what the Nigerian Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) needs is to remove most of the luxury accessories, design a good body, get the right engine and gearbox and other vital components that will make a good car meant for the Nigerian type of climate and terrain.
Adedoyin added that the association will never stand against locally produced vehicles but insists that the approach must be transparent, sincere, logical and rational.
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