We didn’t Shut-down, Sack Workers, Says Innoson

Bennett Oghifo

Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited (IVM), one of Nigeria’s auto manufacturing outfits, has said it was still producing vehicles with full complement of its workers, and had not shut its plant in Nnewi, as reported recently in various sections of the media.

This was contained in a statement the management of the company issued yesterday in reaction to the publications which purported that the plant had laid-off worker and shut down production over FOREX crises.

Explaining, however, that IVM, like many other manufacturers in the country, was experiencing low production occasioned by scarcity of FOREX to import vital components, the statement signed by the Public Relations and Media Assistant, Cornel Osigwe, assured that the auto maker was hopeful that the Federal Government would soon find a lasting solution to the challenge.

The management faulted part of the erroneous reports which specifically stated: “Nigeria’s major vehicle assembly plant, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited (IVM), has announced its decision to shut down production due to lack of foreign exchange to import vehicle components.”

The IVM spokesman described the reports as “a deviation from the interview (the Chairman of the Innoson Group), Dr. Innocent Chukwuma, granted to Reuters News Agency which was correctly published by them, but was totally distorted by the various news platforms.”

Highlighting what it said was the correct position, the statement added, “Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Co Ltd (@innosonmotors) has not shut down its manufacturing plant and is not planning to do so. In as much as the company is experiencing low production due to the inability to get the required volume of FOREX to source for its vehicle components outside Nigeria, it still has absolute faith in the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) ability to fix FOREX scarcity problems.

“Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Co Ltd has not laid off its staff due to the low activities in production. Rather, what Chief Chukwuma said was ‘I believe they (Federal Government) are doing something but if they can’t do anything, we will lay off some workers,

“Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Co Ltd believes in the Federal Government’s drive to boost the manufacturing sector and is aware that this presentFOREX scarce challenge is a phase that will soon pass”.