Nigeria wants trade row with Ghana settled fairly

The Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Femi Gbajabiamila, has proposed arbitration and a fair judicial process for the settlement of the trade dispute between Ghana and Nigeria.

He called for this after a meeting with Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament, lawmakers and some government officials in Accra on Thursday, September 4.

As part of his ongoing visit to Ghana to resolve the crisis, Mr Gbajabiamila called for an amicable settlement of trade disputes through arbitration and fair judicial processes.

The Speaker also said he would be glad to champion a law to improve the bilateral trade relations between Nigeria and Ghana, noting that citizens of the two countries remain brothers and sisters.

He called on Ghanaian authorities to revisit the component of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) law that requires a capital base of $1 million for businesses to start, saying as Africans, Ghana should encourage brotherliness.

In order to deal with the trade disputes, he proposed that there should be “firstly, amicable settlement of trade disputes through arbitration and fair judicial processes”.

“In this context, we do believe that while it is the sovereign right of the government of Ghana to pass and implement the GIPC Act, we would implore you to explore alternative and less aggressive options of engaging, sanctioning and relating with our traders and business people who operate in your country, pay taxes and contribute to the development of both our nations,” he stated.