He noted that, “the N2 million is the agent’s fee. They have approved agents that you must pass through. You can’t do it yourself, you must pass through the agent because it is somehow technical. If Customs is to stand by the rule as it is at the moment, all of us are gone, and no SME will remain. We will all shut down production.“When putting up levy of this nature, common sense would have told them that they should not levy SMEs and Multinationals at the same rate.
“Apart from the issues I mentioned earlier, there is another bill at the National Assembly of which they are proposing 20 per cent of the cost of each bag. And when you add that to the N10 per litre, it becomes the excise duty that you will have to pay to the Nigerian Customs.” “I have told all of them that sitting down in their offices and calculating how they can increase revenue at the expense of industrialists would not do the economy any good. Rather, they are increasing unemployment, criminals, kidnappers insurgency, increasing inflation, etc.
“To move your goods from the factory to the market, you will meet the police officers, Federal Road Safety, the Local Council, and area boys among others who are all after us for money. Also, commenting, managing director of Stellarchem Nigeria Ltd, Ikpong Umoh, has lamented that the daunting challenges, including foreign exchange and energy crises, amongst others, are adversely impacting the critical role of Micro Small, and Medium Enterprises in the nation’s economy.