Security: FG launches integrated NVIS, VIN
….Laments 70% imported vehicles without duties
To enhance national security and improve its revenue base, the Federal Government yesterday launched the integrated National Vehicle Identification System (NVIS), an initiative meant to ensure that all vehicles operating in the country are properly captured and registered.
Also launched is the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), which will take effect in March 2017.
Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, stated this yesterday in Abuja at a workshop on integration of NVIS involving the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
According to her, kidnappers, armed robbers, terrorists and other criminals ply their unwholesome trade with vehicles and as such would need to properly register them to help in investigations when impounded.
She lamented that the Federal Government had lost huge revenue, as about 70 per cent of imported vehicles do not pay accurate Customs duties and taxes.
Her words: “This collaboration is key. We want to be able to detect stolen vehicles. We want to be able to capture the accurate revenue from imported vehicles. We also want to ensure that vehicle owners pay taxes. These are what obtain in developed economies and we shouldn’t be left out. It’s the way to go,” she said.
Also speaking at the event, the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Hameed Ali, lamented that vehicles coming into the country fall below set standards, adding that government had also been robbed of revenue for a long time. He warned his officers to ensure the success of the programme as any one found going against the law will not only be sacked but will also be prosecuted.
“With this collaboration, I am convinced that complete sanity will be infused into the system of vehicle registration. It is a known fact that 70 per cent of vehicles registered for use in Nigeria are not documented for duty purpose by the NCS. The loss of revenue associated with this lapse is quite obvious. However, in a country like ours, the security implication of that development is equally worrisome.
“This collaboration is, therefore, a positive step to complement the recent policy banning importation of vehicles through the land borders. Through our collaboration, we are strong in our collective resolve to make smuggled cars unattractive to buyers,” he explained.
In his remarks, the Corps Marshall of the FRSC described the initiative as laudable as it involves the harmonisation of biometric data generation and ensures a unified national database.
“This has always been the long time desire of the FRSC as we have always been willing to share our data with all relevant agencies of government towards achieving development and security for the nation. The FRSC has been at the forefront of unified vehicle registration system since the NVIS came into being in 1991. It was for that reason the corps has continued to embark on various reforms aimed at protecting the integrity and uniformity of the system for efficient registration of all vehicles operating in the country. The last of the upgrade of the licensing system of the country was carried out in 2011 to guarantee efficacy in the registration of vehicles and identification of their ownerships through the captured data in the national database,” he said
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