…Says Benin Republic Accounts For Over 75% Of Smuggled Imports
The Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, has raised alarm over reports that more than 75% of Nigerian-bound imported goods are being offloaded in the Benin Republic and smuggled into the country
The Speaker expressed his concern about the ugly situation on Wednesday while addressing a delegation of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) led by the Director-General, Princess Zara Mustapha Audu, in his office.
A statement issued by his Media Adviser, Musa Abdullahi Krishi, about the discussions of the lawmaker with the PEBEC team, indicated that Abbas advocated the need for reforms address bottlenecks in the import and export chain in the maritime sector.
Krishi partly stated: “Speaker Abbas raised the alarm over reports that countries are avoiding shipment to Nigeria, noting that some reports indicate over 75 percent of imported goods offloaded in the Benin Republic are actually meant for Nigerian destinations.”
According to him, during the discussion at the meeting, the Speaker decried that Nigeria was losing huge revenues to neighbouring West African countries due to porosity of the borders and administrative lapses.
The lawmaker assured PEBEC that the House of Representatives would consider the reform proposals from the council, particularly the enforcement of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) Act and the fate of investors in the Free Trade Zones (FTZs) in terms of provisions of the tax reform bills now being finalized in the National Assembly.
Abbas explained: “I feel really sad that we in Nigeria, in some areas, are doing things differently. Even from our neighbours here in West Africa, I hear complaints about customs bureaucracy and clearance. I hear about the shipping industry and ports regulatory authorities. All these are taking so long to provide, and the costs of even bringing in products to Nigeria-in some instances doubling what they collect (as duty) in our neighbouring countries.
“I think those are serious and major areas that your agency (PEBEC) needs to actually pay attention to. There is so much you can do by looking at our regulatory bodies, particularly those responsible for international business and trade, and see what you can do to make the Nigerian environment more competitive,” the Speaker assured.
The Speaker recalled his recent visit to Morocco, where officials of the North African country criticized the bureaucracy and delays in the import and export chain between Nigeria and Morocco, pointing out that addressing the issues in the shipping system will be a win-win for the Nigerian government and foreign investors.
He promised the PEBEC’s team that further reviews would be conducted to enable Nigeria to respect previous agreements signed with foreign investors in the Free Trade Zones due to the complaints he receives “every day from the private sector and foreign investors complaining of bottlenecks” in every facet of Nigeria’s economic life.
During the visit, the Director-General of the PEBEC, Princess Zara Mustapha Audu, presented a letter from the Office of the Vice-President to Speaker, seeking legislative intervention of the House of Representatives in the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN).
Audu, who disclosed that currently the PEBEC was supervising 69 MDAs with mandates relating to the Nigerian economy, explained that there had been some challenges in the economic environment due to the implementation of the new FRCN Act, particularly in terms of the face-off between the FRCN and operators in the private sector.
