Buhari may reopen land borders soon

An indication emerged on Wednesday that President Muhammadu Buhari will soon receive a report of a Presidential Committee on the reopening of the nation’s land borders.

The Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, gave the indication on Wednesday, said the committee set up by  President Buhari had  done an assessment of the gains of the closure and had recommended to him to reopen the borders.

Nigeria, the largest economy and the most prosperous of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), last year August closed its land  borders on account of the proliferation of illegal importation of drugs, small arms and agricultural products into Nigeria from neighbouring countries.

Ahmed was responding to reporters questions on when Nigerian borders closed since 2018 will be reopened at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by Buhari.

Members of the committee include ministers of finance, budget and national planning, interior and foreign affairs.

“Once members of the committee sign the report, it will be submitted but she was silent on the day of submission and also date of the  reopening.”

Ahmed had at a roundtable discussion  at the 26th Nigerian Economic Summit (NES #26) gave an assurance that the borders would be reopened “soon”.

She had told the audience at the NES #26: “We have made an assessment. The president set up a committee and we have made an assessment and all the members of the committee agreed and are recommending to the president that it is time to reopen the borders.

“The objective has been met in the sense that we have been able, over these couple of months,  to work  together with our partners in a tripartite committee and do a joint border patrol together and reinforced the sanctity of the commitments that we made to each other.

” So, each side has learnt its lesions. Nigeria has been affecting our partners in terms of businesses that we have in Nigeria as well. So, we will be expecting that the borders will be reopened very soon. The date will be decided by Mr President.”