Ghana has insisted that the closure of external borders by Nigeria led to its imposition of a $1 million tax on traders with Nigerian traders being the most affected.
According to the Minister of information for Ghana, Kojo Nkrumah said on Sunday that the trade tax and other stiff regulations imposed on Nigerians was normal since the Nigerian Government decided to close its land borders. Kojo said, the land border closure resulted in the prevention of foreign Nationals from taking jobs from average Nigerians.
The Minister’s statements are in response to the message of the Federal Government during the week that it would no longer tolerate maltreatment of Nigerians living in Ghana.
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According to Nigeria’s minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, listed some incidents against Nigeria undertaken by Ghanaian authorities to include the forceful take-over of several buildings belonging to the Nigerian Mission, deportation of 825 Nigerians in one year, and heavy prison sentences against Nigerian nationals.
Kojo Nkrumah however said the trade regulations were imposed in the national interest of Ghana just like Nigeria has also done by closing the Seme Krake border since August 2019, thereby affecting the economies of neighbouring West African countries.
The Minister pointed accusing fingers at the Nigerian business community in Ghana, accusing them of widespread disregard and abuse of local trade laws, tax evasion, immigration offences and selling of substandard goods.
Excerpts from the Ghanaian Minister’s statement said;
“The Federal Republic (Nigeria), on the other hand, is on record to have taken a number of steps in recent months, in pursuit of her national interests, which have gravely affected other countries in the region. These include the closure of Nigeria’s Seme Krake border from August 2019 to date and the issuance of executive orders by Nigeria’s Presidency preventing foreigners from getting jobs which Nigerians can do, to mention a few.”
The Minister said further that only 700 Nigerians involved in fraud, prostitution and armed robbery were deported from Ghana between January 2018 and February 2019.
He said the Ghanaian President, Nana Akufi-Addo would engage with President Muhammdu Buhari to develop a process of validating claims of ill-treatment of Nigerians in Ghana and vice versa.
The Minister said the Nigerian Government refused to renew the commercial lease of the land it occupied which expired 46 years ago and stated that the Ghanaian government has not seized the property. He said the demolition of several buildings within the Nigerian Mission compound was carried out by a traditional ruler and not the government.
Reacting to the $120 COVID-19 test imposed on Nigerians, the minister said it applied to every foreigner coming into the country and not just Nigerians.
Speaking on the mass closure of Nigerian businesses in Ghana, the Minister said,
“The compliance exercises conducted in the selected markets revealed gross violations of retail trade laws and regulations by Ghanaians and foreigners, including Nigerians. These violations included tax evasion, immigration offences, trading in substandard products, violation of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre law, improper registration of firms, under-payment of business operating permits, falsification of documents, among others.”