Ports boss, Hadiza Usman doesn’t consider Buhari’s car import tariff effective. President Muhammadu Buhari’s tariff on imported cars has led to a smuggling boon that is benefiting neighbouring countries. And NPA boss Hadiza Bala Usman doesn’t appear a fan of the policy. In 2015, the Buhari administration imposed a 70 percent tariff on imported vehicles. The move was geared toward stimulating local production in line with the local content policy of the federal government.SmugglingHowever, Reuters reports that the policy has successfully reduced the number of vehicles brought into the country this year by a quarter, fuelling smuggling from neighbouring Benin.Reuters cited data from the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA). According to the NPA, car imports in Nigeria fell to 70,453 units in the first 10 months of 2017–a 26.8 percent reduction on the same period in 2016.
