Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the immediate reopening of four land borders of Seme in the southwest, Illela in Sokoto State, Maigatari in the northwest, and Mfun in the south-south zones of the country.
Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said at the end of the 28th virtual FEC meeting on Wednesday in Abuja that President Buhari, who joined the meeting from his home in Daura in Katsina State, directed that the other land borders should be opened by December 31, 2020.
Buhari had on December 8, 2020, hinted on plans to reopen Nigeria’s land borders, explaining that the closure of the land borders was part of the efforts by the government to control the smuggling of weapons and drugs into the country.
Speaking after the security meeting with members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on December 8, Buhari said that “the message has sunk in with our neighbours, we are looking into reopening the borders as soon as possible”.
Members of the organized private sector had severally appealed to President Buhari to order the reopening of the land borders, which they believe was partly responsible for the country’s high inflation rate and the recent slide into a second recession within five years.
GIK/APA