The Senate on Tuesday directed its Committees on Foreign Affairs and Trade and Investment to liaise with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to determine the status of over 600 Nigerian shops and businesses in Ghana alleged shut down by that authorities in that country.
The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), on December 2, 2019, allegedly shut down shops and other business premises belonging to Nigerians in the country.
The Senate’s move followed a motion sponsored by Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (YPP, Anambra), titled: “The need to investigate alleged ill-treatment and injustices suffered by Nigerian traders and business owners in Ghana.”
Senate President Ahmad Lawan said it was the responsibility of government to ensure the protection of its citizens all over the world.
He said Nigeria must engage Ghanaian authorities to know what went wrong and proffer lasting solutions.
In his lead debate, Ubah decried the alleged ill-treatment against Nigerian traders and business owners in the neighbouring West African country.
The senator noted that at the end of 2010, Nigerian businesses accounted for 60 per cent of foreign investments in Ghana, especially those from fellow African nations.
He regretted that the once flourishing economic relations between Nigeria and Ghana had come under repeated threats following recent hostile posture of Ghanaian authorities and indigenous traders’ union towards Nigerian traders.
Ubah described the development as worrisome since “Ghana and Nigeria, as members of ECOWAS, have reciprocal obligations under the ECOWAS Protocol to their respective citizens to reside and do business within their territories without molestation”.
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