From the latest report, President Muhammadu Buhari revealed last Monday that his government has proposed in the 2020 Finance Bill to tackle some critical things such as exempting minimum wage earners from Personal Income Tax and also to improve human capital development.
VP Osinbajo revealed the plan of the federal government in acquiring locally assembled cars in the country
The plan of the president was delivered in a virtual speech by Yemi Osinbajo, who is the Vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, at the opening session of the 26th Nigerian Economic Summit Group Conference titled ‘Building partnerships for resilience’.
According to the VP, the Nigerian government plans to buy all cars that are locally assembled within the country instead of going for the imported ones.
While iterating the exemption of minimum wage earner from the payment of tax, Osinbajo revealed that provisions of tax breaks bestowed on small business owners in 2019 are part of the fulfilment of the promises made by this current administration to soften the cost of transportation and effects of inflation on ordinary citizens.
>>> Related news: Our service stations in Nigeria will be flooded with gas by December - NNPC
The presidency made it known in a statement that the country must promote economic diversification by discouraging dependency on the export of crude oil and also to improve the human capital and infrastructure.
Osinbajo noted the plan set in place to promote locally manufactured vehicles and development of human capital
Osinbajo, while delivering the plans of the President, revealed the partnership between the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Investment Authority and other relevant stakeholders to help address some of the vital infrastructural needs of the country by creating the N15tn Infrastructure Company Fund.
Meanwhile, the Vice President also responded to the issue of import duties brought to light during the speech presented at the summit. He said that such a reduction of vehicles’ import duty will help in cutting down the cost of transportation.
Osinbajo further said that the removal of subsidy and pass-through to food prices have reduced the cost of transportation. The automotive policy is now aimed at encouraging local production of cars. He disclosed the yearly demand for vehicles in Nigeria, which is put at 720,000 annually while the local production is only estimated at 14,000 vehicles annually.
Here is the video capturing the moment Nigeria launched her first locally-assembled electric car. Watch the clip below:
WOW!!!! Nigeria Launches First Locally Assembled Electric Car
He acknowledged the reality of local production not meeting up with the growing national demands, which could lead to an increase in the cost of buying vehicles and higher strain on the sectors that rely on transportation. The VP said the current dispensation isn’t giving up on localizing the auto industry, with a plan set in place to buy only locally-produced cars.
>>> Visit Naijauto every day to read the latest traffic updates