Review Policy On Border Closure, Tofa Tells FG

The former presidential candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), Alhaji Bashir Tofa has called on the Federal Government to review the policy on border closure to avoid the tremendous economic loses involved.
He made the call in Kano, yesterday, while responding to questions from newsmen at a press conference by Kano elders under the aegis of Kano Concerned Citizens Initiative (KCCI).
Tofa said, “First, we appreciate why the Federal Government found it necessary to close the borders. We have mentioned also that closing the borders alone is not going to solve the entire problem.
“In some cases, there are advantages. Some companies like rice millers, it is certainly a very good thing, and it is an advantage. But to some others, it is a disadvantage. Even to the Federal Government, there are advantages and disadvantages.
“When the government seeks to stop illegal importation of contraband goods due to the lack of payment of duties, at the same time, government has made many people lose money in terms of their exports while exporting these goods.
“We know that there may be billions of naira worth of goods on both sides of the borders, those coming in and also those going out, and a lot of them are sources of revenue for the Federal Government”, he stated.
Tofa, therefore, advised the Federal Government to re-examine the issue of the closure to allow those doing their legal businesses to continue accordingly.
“So, what we advise is that the Federal Government should examine this issue very closely and make sure that those who are legally doing their businesses are allowed to continue their businesses as long as they are paying the right duties.
“We understand that a lot of these problems are connivance between Customs officials and some businessmen who are willing and ready to pay some money less than what they should pay through the right process”, he lamented.
He also stated that the borders as still porous despite the closure while those doing their legal businesses are strongly affected.
“In fact, these borders are still very porous and things have not changed much in some of them because some of the Customs officials are still collecting money and allowing goods come in”, he charged.