BY PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

Lubricant producers under the aegis of Lubricant Producers Association of Nigeria (LUPAN) has called on the Federal Government to review downwards the duty tariff on base oil, as Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) partners  to stem influx of  substandard products.

Base oil is chief raw material used in the production of lubricants.

Mustapha Mohammed, Vice President of the Association said in a meeting with  SON, that duty tariff on base oil in Nigeria was the same as imported finished lubricant at 10 per cent.

He also said that LUPAN as a body had appealed to the Federal Government through the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, to urgently review duty tariff on base oil downward to five per cent.

This, he said, would protect the local industry, as base oil was the chief raw material required in the production of lubricants. His words, “With the combined installed capacity of the existing lube plants in Nigeria presently, if fully operated, it will exceed local demand. So there is room for increase in the utilisation which will generate more employment, boost our economy and check capital flight.”

Mohammed further said most of the products in question were produced with recycled oils that had little or no additives. He said, “Most of the lubricants do not comply with the standards set by SON. Hence, the importers sell these products at cheaper prices than genuine products in the market.

“Our association is very much concerned at the rate by which import permit is granted to these economic saboteurs to bring in these lubes without control at the ports during points of entry. We should bear in mind that the effect of over dependence on foreign finished products is always at the expense of the local industry.”

He however noted that the continued import of substandard lubricants might lead to the closure of existing plants in the country, unemployment, regular breakdown of machineries, environmental pollution, economic loss to Nigeria, and lack of technological transfer and development in the industry.

Responding, Mr. Joseph Odumodu, Director-General, SON, said the influx of substandard and adulterated finished lubricants into Nigeria has reached an alarming proportion, whilst stressing that the organisation would partner the association to combat the menace of substandard lubricants in the Nigerian market.

Odumodu said, “In fact, we see this as an indictment that we have not been doing our jobs thoroughly as expected, especially to this sector of our economy. SON will henceforth focus on this sector and we will partner other government agencies as well as LUPAN to make sure that sanity is brought to this industry.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Emeka Obidike, Executive Secretary, LUPAN, urged the government to partner indigenous lubricant producers in order to curb the menace posed by adulterated and substandard lubricants.

He said, “The current government economic blueprint to achieve vision 20:20 will be a mirage if the manufacturing sector which is the bedrock of the economy and the highest employer of labour is not given priority attention in Nigeria’s economic policy.