The Federal Government has not lifted the ban on vehicle importation through Seme Border, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has says.
Reports had posited during the week that the border was now open to vehicle importation.
However, Hussaini Abdullahi, the Customs Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Seme Area Command, who clarified the situation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Saturday, said the government has not made a pronouncement on the border reopening.
Abdullahi acknowledged that a proposal was written by some freight forwarders to the FG following an advice from Ademola Adegoroye, the former minister of state for transportation.
READ ALSO: FG Approves Re-Opening Of Seme Border For Vehicle Importation
He furthered that the former minister had visited the border to inaugurate some projects in February when the freight forwarders complained to him about how the ban had affected them.
Adegoroye, he said, advised the freight forwarders and members of the border community to put their request in writing.
The customs spokesperson said during a recent visit by Ibrahim Musa, director of road transport in the ministry of transportation, it was confirmed that the letter by the freight forwarders had been received and acted upon — by passing it to a higher authority.
He said, “no directive had been given on the matter.”
Former President Muhammadu Buhari had, in August 2019, shut all land borders as part of efforts to curtail smuggling and boost local production of rice.
