Over 75% of Nigerian imports offloaded in Benin Republic – Speaker Abbas 

The Speaker raised the alarm while addressing a delegation of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) at his office on Wednesday, according to a statement by his media aide, Musa Abdullahi Krishi.

He called for reforms in the Nigerian economy to address bottlenecks in the import and export chain in the maritime sector.

“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,” the statement partly reads.

At the meeting with PEBEC, the Speaker decried that Nigeria is losing huge revenue to neighboring West African countries due to administrative issues at the borders.

“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 said.

“We will take action immediately,” the Speaker assured PEBEC.