ECOWAS has to call Nigeria to order on its border closure - Oppong Nkrumah

He said the decision is hurting traders in the sub-region and it is clearly against the principles of ECOWAS.

closure of the borders because moves like this have a way of negatively impacting the West African Economic Integration project,” he cautioned. 

According to him, both Ghana and Nigeria’s cabinet are expected to meet between November 8 and 9, 2019 at the next ECOWAS summit to further address the issue.

Back home, representatives of both the Ghanaian and Nigerian governments will today, Monday, November 4, 2019, meet to discuss possibilities of opening Nigeria’s border to Ghanaian traders. 

The Foreign Affairs Ministry, however, last month assured members of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) that it will put together a cabinet-to-cabinet modality agreement between Ghana and Nigeria to resolve the border closure. 

The move was expected to allow the free movement of goods for Ghanaian traders, which have been stranded at the borders for close to three months. 

The Nigerian government over the weekend escalated the issue when it announced that it will shut its borders to all trade until January 31, 2020. A move that will ultimately put Ghanaian traders in further disarray.