The Minister of Finance, Budget and National
Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, on Monday clarified that the closure of all land
borders manned by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and other security agencies
will not "last forever."
This is coming as the Comptroller-General of NCS,
Hameed Ali, Monday said goods worth N1.4 billion had been seized since the federal government partially close the country's land borders on August 20 to tame the
activities of smugglers as well as enforce compliance to anti-dumping practices
by its neighbours.
She said discussions are currently ongoing between
the government of Nigeria and the Republic of Benin on the need to comply with
the various trade agreements signed by both countries but which had been
reportedly subjected to abuses.
The minister said even though the closure had so
far recorded positive outcomes for the economy, the borders would be reopened
as soon as there is compliance to the treaties signed by the neighbouring
countries.
The President of the Manufacturers Association of
Nigeria (MAN), Mr. Ahmed Mansur, had insisted that the continued closure of the
borders could in the long run hurt the private sector as there appeared to be
no end in sight.
This is as the minister also said President
Muhammadu Buhari had ordered that no federal civil servants should be paid
salaries henceforth, effective from October, until they are enrolled on the
Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
She explained that although the affected workers
would not be disengaged from the service, the move is to compel those
individuals and agencies who are reluctant to join the payment platform to do
that.
Speaking at a town hall meeting on the breakdown of
the 2020 budget proposals, Ahmed insisted that no agency of the government was
exempted from the IPPIS, stressing that though members of the polytechnics and
universities had objected to being enrolled because of the peculiar nature of
their operations, they are nevertheless to comply.
She said the platform was designed to plug revenue
leakages in public finances.
It further emerged that the federal government is
seeking to finance the 2020 budget with about N237 billion it hopes to recover
from looted public assets.
The minister, however, disclosed that the sum of
N450 billion has been earmarked for fuel subsidy payment or what has been
renamed as under-recovery by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC).
She emphasised that going forward, key reforms such
as the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative (SRGI) would be implemented with
increased vigour to improve revenue collection and expenditure management.
Ahmed noted that in furtherance of the federal
government's objective of greater comprehensiveness and transparency in the
budget process, its budget from 2020 will reflect the revenues and expenditures
of Government Owned Enterprises (GOEs) and the multilateral/bi-lateral
project-tied loans and related expenditures.
She stressed further that achieving fiscal
sustainability and macro-fiscal objectives of government would require bold,
decisive and urgent action, saying: "The government is determined to act
as may be required."
Meanwhile, the Comptroller-General of NCS, Ali,
yesterday said goods worth N1.4 billion had been seized since the federal
government partially closed the country's land borders on August 20 to tame the
activities of smugglers as well as enforce compliance to anti-dumping practices
by its neighbours.
He also revealed that the Republic of Niger, one of
Nigeria's northern neighbours, had recently banned the export of rice into the
country as a fallout the latter's border closure.
Speaking at a media briefing in Abuja, the Customs
boss revealed that 317 smugglers had been arrested, adding that 21,071 bags of
50 kilogrammes of parboiled rice were
impounded.
Ali further foreclosed any plans to reopen the
borders soon, adding that diplomatic engagements were ongoing with neighbouring
countries on how to comply with established trade protocols.
He noted that the partial land border closure had
affected all goods, advising that anyone who hitherto imported and exported
legitimate goods could still do so through the seaports and other manned
outlets for now.
Ali also disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari
had approved an e-customs project, which involves using drones and geo-spatial
technology to further fortify the borders.
On why the security agencies are not putting free
movement protocol of ECOWAS into consideration in the border closure issue, Ali
said: "When we talk of security, human rights take a back seat. We want to
secure our country. Nigeria must survive before you talk of rights and doing
business."
He noted that all the agencies involved in Exercise
Swift Response (ESR) as coordinated by
the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) have been duly briefed on
the target of the operation, especially in the area of using minimum force.
However, he said the government, through diplomatic
channels, would continue to engage neighbours to agree on compliance with
ECOWAS Protocol on transit.
Ali said: "Goods that are on the prohibition
list in Nigeria, such as rice, used clothing, poultry products and vegetable
oil, should not be exported to the country.
"As a result of this closure, Niger Republic
has already circulated an order banning exportation of rice in any form to
Nigeria."
“There are rules of this operation to enhance
ECOWAS protocol, which says you must arrive or depart via a recognised port
with the right travel documents. You must travel where there is Customs and
Immigrations Services.
"We will launch our e-border initiative next
year. We also have forward operational bases, and will patrol them round the
clock. We have 12 of such.”
Ali maintained that the border operation would continue
until neighbouring countries comply with the rules of engagement, rather than
becoming corridors through which illicit goods are dumped in Nigeria.
No comments:
Post a Comment