Peterside Slams FG For Opening Border To Only Dangote
…Says Nigeria’s Economy Rigged
Founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Atedo Peterside, has slammed the Federal Government alleging that it opened the borders to Dangote Cement to export its product.
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He said the development showed that the economy is being rigged to favour Africa’s Richest man, Aliko Dangote.
Peterside who is also the founder of Anap Business Jets Limited, said this in a monitored tweet on Tuesday following government’s approval for Dangote Cement to resume export after 12 months of border border closure, beginning October 2019.
President Muhammadu Buhari authorised Africa’s biggest producer to export cement to Niger and Togo in the third quarter for the first time in ten months.
Michel Puchercos, the chief executive officer of Dangote Cement, said in Lagos that the export was possible “through authorization given by this administration.”
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Reacting, Peterside said it was wrong for the government to restrict other legitimate businesses from exporting while it exempted Dangote Cement from the border closure.
He said, “Allowing legitimate exporters and importers to move their goods across the border should be a no-brainer. Why refuse everybody else and allow only one company (Dangote)?
“This is why some of us argue that the Nigerian economy is rigged in favour of a handful of well-connected persons.”
Also Ayo Sogunro, a human rights lawyer said, “The FG manipulates the economy to favour people like Dangote repeatedly because, legally, it has power to control ‘major sectors of the economy’ while citizens have rights only ‘outside the major sectors’.
“The 1999 Constitution is trash and can never work for ordinary Nigerians.”
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