Lagos State’s Motor Vehicle Administration Agency (M V A A) has put a new N4,600 fee on all foreign cars leaving Lagos ports. A temporary Vehicle Tag (TVT) is the name of the fee. About 240,000 used and new cars and trucks are shipped into the country every year, on average.
The new fee is different from the Wharf Landing Fee that the state government charges on all goods, including cars. It was learned that the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has linked TVT payment to port Delivery Order (TDO) and told port workers not to let any car out unless they have proof of payment. It was said that clearing agents would get a sticker for the car after paying N4,600. The sticker would allow the car to be driven in Lagos for one month.
The TVT office for receiving money is in Apapa, Lagos, at the Lagos State Wharf Landing Receiving Authority. In response to this news, the Chairman of the Lagos State Wharf Landing Collection Agency, Chief Gboyega Salvador Adebayo, said that the TVT collection was different from the Wharf Landing Fees. He said that the TVT was strictly for security, especially since people were bringing in guns and bullets and using imported cars without license plates to commit crimes.
He said: “The money is being collected by Motor Vehicle Agency, but because of polarity in the port environment and harbour area, we decided that you cannot have two agencies running after the same people in order to pay different levies.
“The Wharf Landing Fees is based on goods brought into the country through the Wharf. So, what we decided was that, for areas where Motor Vehicle Agency are operating, they are basically security issues.
“Vehicles are imported into this country without any number to identify them, when they leave the port premises, they could be used for criminal activities or they could even have an accident killing people, how do you identify the vehicles that did it?
