The Federal Government is working towards reopening all the various land borders in the country, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said.
He gave the assurance while speaking during a webinar organised by The Africa Report on Thursday. Osinbajo said the closure of land borders by President Muhammadu Buhari is to check smuggling goods and arms into the country.
The vice president said the government is working with neighbouring countries on the terms of reopening the border in order to implement the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA),
“We are working with our neighbours to see on what terms we would reopen those borders. At the moment, we are undertaking joint border patrols to control smuggling along the borders and we think it is working and I am sure that soon enough we should have the borders opened,” he said.
“We are committed to the AfCFTA but we are concerned about threats to security and the economy and we had to take certain actions that would satisfy the immediate needs of our country. It (border closure) certainly wasn’t meant to be permanent and we are looking forward to reopening as quickly as possible.”
