The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has appealed to the Federal Government to expedite the issuance of the 2019 Vehicle Assemblers Certificate to boost the growth of the nation’s automobile industry.

Mr Muda Yusuf, Director-General of LCCI made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos.

Yusuf said that the protracted delays in the issuance of the Bonafide Vehicle Assemblers Certificate for the current year was hurting investors in the automobile industry and invariably the economy.

“It is so absurd that a certificate that will  be used for business operation for 2019 is yet to be issued in May. This delay is not ideal for the economy or investors.

“Some of these investors have invested over a million dollars to set up vehicle assembling plants based on the incentives that the government offers.

“Some of the assemblers already have their consignment of Semi- Knocked Down (SKDs)
at the port, but cannot clear them at the approved 10 per cent concessionary import duty for SKDs.

“If they are to clear without the license, they will be charged 35 per cent, which is an additional cost to production,” he said.

Yusuf said that the Ministry of Finance was in-charge of the issuance of the certificate, thus urged the ministry to fast track the certificate issuance towards accelerating industrial and economic growth. (NAN)