
Alhaji Issa Akanbi Mohammed, President, Africa Tyre Village (ATV), Lagos Intl trade Fair complex
The President of Association of Nigerian Tyre Marketers (ANTM), owners of Africa Tyre Village (ATV), Lagos International Trade Fair complex, Alhaji Isah Akanbi Mohammed, has revealed two key policy review by the Federal Government that will crash the price of tyres in Nigeria.
Speaking in an exclusive media chat with Business Hilights in his office on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, he averred that the first smart move to be made by the Federal Government will be to delist, without delay, Tyre and accessories from the banned items.
He revealed that “they still categorize tires as rubber and so it is still on that banned list and we will be have telling them that it is wrong; wrong because tire is not like plastic chairs or plastic table that you can get anywhere locally because it’s not being manufactured locally. Befre Mechiin and Dunlop are here but now, they are no more. We import every tyre you see in this country and yet, its in the list of banned items. Its very unfortunate because the FRSC will still ask you to use unexpired tyres. Then how do you get them”.
Recall that former President Muhammad Buhari had in his first term of office, banned a lot of items from import list including tyres.
According to him, “the delisting of tyres from import banned items will give we the marketers the opportunity to access forex directly from banks and that will make forex access very seamless, cheap and less cumbersome.
Alhaji Mohammed recalled that “Since we’ve been shouting, tire has not been delisted from the banned items, it has not been delisted. We go through hell to import tyres into this country.
“Let me tell you, as soon as tyre is delisted from list of banned items and we start to access forex for the import from banks directly, prices of tyres will naturally crash nationwide.
“The policy needs to be looked into so that we can access our forex directly from banks.
Otherwise that is one of the ideal policies you want government to introduce this year}.
On the other policy change that will further lead to the reduction of tyre prices, NATM President said “Another policy change one is the tariffs we pay at the port should be looked into and reduced. To clear a twenty feet container now, you need 12 million naira to clear. That is 20% and 5% VAT. Somebody even told me that it has been raised to 40% VAT, but I have not confirmed that yet. Even at 20%, it’s still high, it’s still very high and everything will be channeled to the cost of importation. We are in business to make profit. So definitely, the user feels it. So I want government to look into that and bring down the tariffs.
Giving insights on the relationship of his association with the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), he said it has been cordial and will continue to be because here at the ATV, we do not tolerate fake products or tukunbo materials.