Customs men in trouble after clearing Bala Mohammed's son's $3m car
Abdullahi, son of former Federal Capital Terittory (FCT) Minister, Bala Mohammed, reportedly bought a $3 million (about N900 million) McLaren luxury car for racing and stunts.
And the Customs men who cleared the car have put themselves in trouble after giving the car incredulously low duty rate.
The spokesman of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A, Ikeja Lagos, Uche Ejesieme,was quoted as saying that the vehicle brought in by Abudallahi attracts an import duty of N124 million, but a little over N300,000 was said to have been paid as duty.
According to The Sun investigations, the 25-year old Abdullahi Bala, the owner of the exotic vehicle, dubbed, “supercar” on the global scene, is a 'respected' member of the CORSA Motor Sports Club of Abuja, an umbrella body of wealthy Nigerians with robust interest in car racing and vehicle stunt performances.
In a video published on November 29, 2012, the club described the clip as “a short preview of what to come from Corsa Motorsports Club of Abuja………. racing, stunts and lots of entertainment. We, the street Kings of Abuja and beyond borders,” it said in a short message below the trailer.
The newspaper’s sources said Abdullahi imported the vehicle solely for racing and stunts, as it is not designed for city drive.
“He's the President of the Corsa Motorsports Club and his desire to ride the latest of the sports cars is understandable”, he said.
H o w e v e r , information sourced from motorauthority.com shows that the price of the McLaren varies. The sport coupe/ racing version starts from $3 million depending on its model, engine capacity and other configurations.
For instance, famous British supercar dealer, Tom Hartley, recently sold a McLaren F1 racing car for 3.5 million pounds (approximately $5.58 million). The P1 version costs a little less than that.
The McLaren car arrived in the country on January 8, 2016 and was “cleared” at the Seme border command for over N300,000.
“On arrival in the country, the blue vehicle was registered under a customized plate number- -Lagos SO”, a Customs source told Daily Sun.
However, acting on a tip-off, officials of the FOU, which is the enforcement department, trailed the luxury racing car to a hotel where it was parked for days.
“Customs officers from the FOU mounted a surveillance around the area and waited patiently for the day the owner would come and drive it away. At last, he came for it last Friday and he was accosted. When the papers were scrutinized, the officers discovered a little above N300,000 was paid as duty and charges instead of about N124 million. Of course, he was arrested and the vehicle impounded and taken to the premises of FOU Zone A in Ikeja. He was later released on bail but, the vehicle had been impounded. Investigation is ongoing. We need to know how the vehicle got into the country and paid such an abysmal figure as duty”, the source added.
The Comptroller- General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali, (retd), had repeatedly warned officers not to live above board as vehicles and other goods seized after they have been cleared either at the port or land border may land the officers who hitherto cleared such consignments in trouble.
“We won't only seize the goods for underpayment, evasion of duty and other anomalies, we will also sanction the officers at the port or land border who cleared such cargoes because they didn't fall from the skies,” he said.