By Ekuson Nw’Ogbunka, Abuja
The Basic Metals, Iron and Steel Manufacturers Sectoral Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has called for the establishment of a Special Task Force by the Federal Government to recover revenue lost through untoward activities of some Free Trade Zones (FTZs) operators in Nigeria.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, over the weekend, the Chairman of the group, Prince Lekan Adewoye, lamented weak regulatory oversight in FTZs, particularly regarding value addition to imported raw materials and their subsequent export into the Customs territory.
Prince Adewoye stated that the government is losing significant revenue due to flagrant under-invoicing of finished and semi-finished products imported as purported raw materials into the zones, which eventually find their way into the Customs territory without any value addition.
He warned that these practices undermine genuine local manufacturers operating in the Customs territory, leading to shutdowns and massive job losses. Prince Adewoye cited a member company of the sectoral group in Ogun State that scrapped nearly 80% of its installed capacity due to unfair competition with operators in the Igbesa FTZ.
The MAN Sectoral Group Chairman emphasized that the Basic Metals and Iron & Steel sector is the backbone of any nation’s industrial development, noting that it has meaningfully supported the Tinubu administration’s economic diversification and industrialization goals through import substitution, value addition, employment generation, MSME development, and local production despite daunting challenges.
In response, Nigeria Economic Zones Association (NEZA) Executive Secretary Toyin Elegbede assured that NEZA would not support any sabotage by its member organizations, stressing that the association’s focus is on realizing the objectives for which FTZs were created.
Elegbede noted that the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) is represented in FTZs to inspect, certify, and issue certificates of conformity for goods sold to the Customs territory.
SON Director of Product Certification, Engr. Enebi Onucheyo, confirmed that SON developed a “Special Economic Zones Conformity Assessment Programme (SEZCAP)” in 2024 to certify goods moving into and out of FTZs into the Customs territory.
Engr. Onucheyo stated that the SEZCAP is being implemented through SON State Offices having jurisdiction over the FTZs across the country, aiming to enhance production, importation, sales, and distribution of quality and safe manufactured products in special economic zones into Nigeria and those to be exported to other parts of the world.
