The war of words between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) regarding the border closure and its implications for Nigerians has taken a new turn.
Dino Melaye, spokesman for Atiku Abubakar, PDP presidential candidate, on Saturday, accused the APC-led administration of scamming Nigerians with its border closure policy.
Atiku during a recent campaign rally in Katsina had pledged to restore peace in the country and open all borders closed up by the Buhari-led administration if he is elected Nigeria’s president next year.
In response, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Muhammed, accused the former Vice President of attempts to worsen the insecurity in the country.
Melaye, who waded into the argument, said the APC-led policy of shutting up borders in the name of encouraging cultivation, distribution and consumption of locally made rice hadn’t yielded any tangible results.
The former lawmaker cited the humongous price of rice in the country, adding that the policy had not tamed the insecurity in which the country has been mired.
“Against the backdrop of rising price of rice, coupled with unmitigated insecurity, the ever conscious and discerning Nigerians have found out that the closure of Nigeria’s land borders by Buhari and the APC administration was a scam and a failed policy, the lying dexterity of Lai Mohammed, Buhari’s Minister of information notwithstanding”, Melaye said.
One of the touted gains of the border closure, according to APC, is the phantom rice revolution arising from containing smuggling of imported rice through border closure. Curious Nigerians are, however, wondering why rice is now more expensive and unaffordable during and after the border closure
Nigerians are also feeling scammed because insecurity and arms smuggling that were part of the justifications for border control have become so intractable that Katsina State, including President Buhari’s community have become the kingdom of bandits.
“It is tactless of Lai Mohammed and APC to be contending with His Excellency Atiku Abubakar on issues of border management and control, an area in which the presidential candidate of PDP exudes exceptional competence. It is painful that rather than bow in contrition over the abundant and abysmal policy failures of his Party and administration, the tepid counterpoise of Lai Mohammed is to categorise His Excellency Atiku Abubakar as ‘inordinately ambitious’
It was the same sniding that has kept the APC rolling rapidly on the course of administrative perdition, as it failed to heed the counsel of Atiku on NNPC and other key socio-economic issues. Only the PDP and Atiku can bail Nigeria out of its current habitation in intensive care.
“Nigerians are not fooled or oblivious to recall the hardship, loss of market dominance in West Africa, and the stifling of the operations of Nigerian industries while the border closure lasted. Such was the negative consequence that a Committee under the Buhari administration advised it against the counterproductive effect of a badly conceived and ignorantly implemented policy.
“If the policy worked, why were the critical land borders re-opened? It reflects lack of creativity, poor imagination, idleness and indiscretion to attack His Excellency Atiku Abubakar for saying that his administration would keep the borders open as a benefit of the hard lessons that the Buhari administration learnt through its characteristic error of judgement”, he concluded.
Buhari had in 2019 ordered closure of land borders with Benin and others countries as part of his administration’s effort to tackle importation andassociated corruption but spur the domestic agricultural industry.
However, Nigerians had criticized the policy for its seeming ineffectiveness to arrest the biting food shortage and inflation in the country.