Reopening the border will be decided by Tinubu-CG Customs
On Saturday, Mr. Adewale Adeniyi, the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, stated that the authority to reopen the country’s borders rests only with President Bola Tinubu.
He made these remarks when meeting with frontier Kongolam in Katsina State’s Mai’adua Local Government Area.
The president’s response to calls for the borders to be reopened was to assure the public that talks were underway to resolve the matter.
He promised that “a decision will be taken on the topic” after discussions were over.
Following this, Adeniyi reaffirmed the service’s commitment to the current administration’s aim of promoting economic growth by eliminating barriers to free trade.
The CG insisted that they had taken preventative steps to streamline border controls and foster cooperation between military and merchants.
“We understand that the border towns are worried, especially about the increased checks and the potential closing of land crossings.
“You have my word that we never break the law and that we strictly adhere to the delegation of authority whenever we do business.
“The President has heard the grievances of the border towns, and we have been instructed to release the impounded food goods, but only on the condition that they can be sold in Nigerian marketplaces,” he stated, adding that the president has listened to the worries and complaints.
Adeniyi revealed that the service is working with the police and other sister agencies to remove barriers to free trade in border areas during his visits to former president Muhammadu Buhari and the Emir of Daura, Alhaji Umar Faruq-Umar.
There are markets in the area surrounding our borders, and we are aware that not all of them are aimed at smuggling products over.
We shall keep an eye on things to make sure that all of the food grown in Nigeria stays in Nigeria. This is due to the fact that food scarcity is currently a matter of national emergency.
He emphasised the importance of everyone working together to help the government enforce the rules that prevent the export of food commodities.