Abuja Fair: Exhibitors Seek Time Extension

Exhibitors at the ongoing 6th Abuja International Trade Fair have called on the organisers to extend the daily closing time of the fair.

Some of the exhibitors, who spoke to newsmen in Abuja, said the call became imperative as many patrons now make purchases in the evenings.

Mr Onyedika Atuche, a trader from Enugu, said there was the need for the organisers to extend the closing time from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. to give more time to both sellers and buyers.

Atuche said experience in the previous fairs had shown that impressive sales were made in the evenings when everybody had finished the day’s engagements.

He said the fair had recorded very poor sales, adding that it was doubtful if the traders could recover the expenses incurred on stands, transport and other costs.

Atuche said that most of their goods had not been sold, adding that the prices of the stands ranging between N80, 000 and N200, 000 were discouraging.

He also said the poor turnout of buyers could be attributed to the security checks at the entry and exit gates of the fair ground at the Old Parade Ground.

In the same vein, Mr Chibuzo Nwabueze, a shoe seller, said the turn out had not been encouraging unlike in the previous years.

Also speaking, a jewelry trader from Niger Republic, Malam Kabiru Mohammed, said the tight security was the main cause of the poor turnout.

He also attributed the low turnout to low purchasing power, stressing that salaries had not been paid to some categories of workers.

Mohammed also also called on the organisers to extend the closing time beyond 6 p.m.