The Federal Government of Nigeria has authorized the reopening of the Seme land border for car importation.
Ibrahim Musa, Director of Road Transport at the Ministry of Transportation, made the statement on Wednesday.
Musa, who spoke during an ECOWAS conference between officials from Nigeria and the Benin Republic, stated that the development was the result of complaints from goods forwarders operating at the Seme border.
He stated, “I was here with the former Minister of State for Transportation when the freight forwarders pleaded that the border should be reactivated for the free movement of goods and services.
“The former minister made us prepare a memo to that effect. It was considered and sent to the government.”
Dera Nnadi, the Customs Area Controller of Seme Border Command, who also spoke at the event, bemoaned that the service has seen a decrease in income since the previous government prohibited car imports through land borders.
Nnadi said, “The former Minister of Transportation, responding to some of our requests and from the stakeholders, promised to take them to the Federal Executive Council, FEC, one of them is how to fully open this border.
“The Ministry has informed us that the memo has been written to FEC and it was adopted and that it would be given to the new government, he assured us that all the requests were adopted.”
cc: Daily Post Ng
