FG may open Seme border

The Federal Government has received a letter from goods forwarders operating at the Seme Border requesting that the border be opened for the importation of vehicles.

This information was revealed at Seme during a meeting between representatives of Nigeria and Benin that was organised by the Economic Community of West African States by Ibrahim Musa, director of road transport for the Federal Ministry of Transportation.

He said that during the former Minister of State for Transportation’s most recent trip to the border, goods forwarders made a request for the border to be reactivated.

According to him, the Federal Executive Council gave its approval to a memo that was created and sent to the federal government in response to the request.

According to the director, FEC made a commitment to give the new administration full authority over the decision to reopen the border.

“I was here with the former Minister of State for Transportation, and the goods forwarders begged for the border to be reactivated for the free flow of goods and services,” he remarked. The minister ordered us to draught a memo stating as much. It was examined and forwarded to the government.

Dera Nnadi, the Customs Area Controller in charge of Seme Command, also spoke at the event. He claimed that since the importation of vehicles was prohibited from land borders, the service had seen a decline in revenue.
He stated, “The Honourable Minister of Transportation, the immediate past one, responding to some of our requests and from the stakeholders, promised to take them to the Federal Executive Council; one of them is how to fully open this border.”

Nnadi added that customs had removed illegal checkpoints from the border corridors, and the Nigerian Police Force’s Border Control division had pledged to do the same.

In order to increase trade and investment in the Abidjan-Lagos corridor, he urged the Federal Government to finish building the highway from Lagos to the Seme Border.

According to the head of Seme Customs, the corridor is crucial for the expansion of trade, investment, cultural diversity, and peace in West Africa and throughout Africa.

Read Also: ECOWAS Commission pays visit to the Seme-Krake Joint Border Patrol

The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor is a crucial trade route for West African nations, serving as a crossroads where our people can meet and exchange ideas about culture and religion, according to Comptroller Nnadi, who also serves as co-chair of the Joint Border Post. It is a crucial location where we keep our relationships and our internal peace. The corridor needs to be maintained. We value ECOWAS’s contribution to the expansion of trade along the corridor. While appreciating the Federal Ministry of Transportation for continuing the highway’s rehabilitation, if the road is finished, trade will increase.