The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, says the International Monetary Fund supports Nigeria\u2019s closure of its land borders because it understands that the action is not punitive.<\/p>\n
Addressing newsmen in Washington on Sunday, Ahmed explained that the measure was intended to restore Nigeria\u2019s relationship with its neighbours, based on commitments made.<\/p>\n
She said that President Muhammadu Buhari did not want to approve the closure because he was mindful of the adverse effect it would have on the economies of neighbours.<\/p>\n
According to her, there were several engagements between Nigeria and the neighbouring countries toward securing compliance to the rules, \u201cbut things got worse\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, there will be economic impact on the side of our neighbours due to the border closure, that is a consequence of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a manner of speaking, IMF supports the border closure that we have done because they understand that the closure was not meant to be punitive.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was meant for us to restore our relationship with our neighbours back to the commitments that we made.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe commitment that we have among these countries is that goods can come through their ports to Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are supposed to come in sealed containers escorted to Nigeria for the Nigeria Customs Service to inspect the goods and charge them.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that is not what is happening. They allow containers to be opened, and also allow goods to be smuggled beyond the formal borders through several illegal routes,\u2019\u2019 she fumed.<\/p>\n
The minister reiterated that Nigeria would ensure that rules were obeyed now that it had committed itself to the African Continental Free Trade Area,\u201c otherwise local industries will suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said that a lot of discussions were ongoing between Nigeria and the affected countries toward securing their re-commitment to the rules governing cross-border trade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, says the International Monetary Fund supports Nigeria\u2019s closure of its land borders because it understands that the action is not punitive. Addressing newsmen in Washington on Sunday, Ahmed explained that the measure was intended to restore Nigeria\u2019s relationship with its neighbours, based on commitments made. She said that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":111138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[110,3,15,2],"tags":[51169,1003,20554,29774],"yoast_head":"\n