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Prices of vehicles to increase next year —Motor dealers

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The costs of imported vehicles will rise sharply beginning from 2021 once the Fuel Grade and Vehicle Emission Standards Regulations of the Economic Community of West African States are implemented, the Association of Motor Dealers of Nigeria (AMDON) has said.

AMDON stated that ECOWAS aspiration is to execute the regulation in 2021, which would require passenger vehicles imported into the region not to exceed five years old and heavy duty vehicles not to be more than ten years.

Ajibola Adedoyin, AMDON president, disclosed in Abuja at the weekend that vehicle prices would increase from next year if the policy was implemented.

The association demanded the suspension of the implementation of the planned regulation, which is expected to take effect in Nigeria in January.

“The ECOWAS commission will soon issue a directive to member countries on the said regulations to restrict the importation of passenger vehicles of no more than five years old and heavy duty vehicles of no more than 10 years old.

“The implementation of this regulation will have significant negative socioeconomic consequences for Nigerian consumers, along with minimal environmental health benefits,” said the AMDON president.

Read also: Register your vehicles or forfeit it, FRSC, NSIRS tells Nasarawa motorists

The planned regulation is the resolution of ECOWAS ministers in consideration of the final report by ECOWAS consultant, which prescribed new fuel and diesel specifications and vehicle emissions standards for countries in the region, Adedoyin said.

He asserted that on the basis of factors like accessibility and affordability, AMDON was worried that the regulation would not favour the Nigerian masses especially at a time country was in recession.

“The implementation of the five-year/10-year vehicle age importation restriction will inevitably have a very substantial upward impact on the cost of motor vehicles for Nigerians considering the current state of the national economy and the sufferings of Nigerians in recent times.”

Adedoyin said suspending the implementation of the ECOWAS regulation should be pursue with the intention of reviewing the flaws in the ECOWAS report to avert a major socioeconomic setback and its repercussions.

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