The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has charged the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to review the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) in order to eliminate the indiscriminate waivers for certain importers who abuse such provisions in the Act.
The NLC stated this in a congratulatory letter to Buhari, signed by its factional president, Comrade Joe Ajaero, a copy of which was made available to LEADERSHIP.
The union asserted that the removal of such waivers would help to boost manufacturing in the country as it would encourage the local production of goods in Nigeria and address the instability in the foreign exchange.
The union further observed that over the last decade the Nigerian economy had grown impressively but lamented that the economic statistics have never been in tune with the social reality as unemployment and poverty soared to an unprecedented 23.9 per cent and 72 per cent height respectively in recent years. It equally added that it is apparent that the economy has grown without benefiting the people.
In addition to ending the nation’s electricity woes, the NLC also tasked the new administration to develop immediate framework and strategies to deal decisively with smuggling as well as counterfeiting of made-in-Nigeria goods.
The statement read in part, “We demand a macro-economic policy regime that will address stability in the currency exchange regime, progressive tax administration and the management of customs and excise duties in the manners that will promote local production of goods and services.
We must bid goodbye to the destructive regime of duty waivers.”
The NLC further urged Buhari to concentrate his administration’s efforts on expanding the frontier for job creation through value-added activities in agriculture, mining, mineral processing and industrial manufacturing.
NLC Urges Buhari To End Indiscriminate Waivers
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