The Nigerian Federal Government is contemplating the reopening of the Seme land border for vehicle imports, following its closure in August 2019 during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.During an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) meeting between Nigerian and Benin officials, Ibrahim Musa, the Director of Road Transport in the Ministry of Transportation, announced on Wednesday that the Federal Government has decided to reopen the Seme border. The decision was prompted by complaints from freight forwarders operating in the area.
According to Musa, he and the former Minister of State for Transportation received pleas from freight forwarders to reactivate the border for the free movement of goods and services. They prepared a memo on the matter, which was considered and sent to the government.
Additionally, Dera Nnadi, the Customs Area Controller of Seme Border Command, acknowledged a decline in revenue for the service since the ban on vehicle importation through land borders was implemented.
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.”
