Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has begged the Government of Ghana to revisit the $1m business capital law, which has negatively affected many Nigerian business people in the country.
The speaker made this appeal during a ‘Legislative Diplomacy’ bilateral meeting with Ghanaian lawmakers and some top government officials as part of his ongoing visit to Ghana to resolve the crisis, Gbajabiamila pleaded with the Ghanaian authorities to explore alternative and less aggressive options
He said, “First, 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.
“Secondly, we would encourage you to revisit the component of the law that requires a capital base of $1,000,000. We are all Africans, we all have towns and villages, and we know only too well that majority of our traders across the continent are petty traders.
“One of the things we are all proud about and the common surname that we all bear is ‘ECOWAS’ and as you know, by virtue of being Ecowas countries, our nations and our citizens should be able to live, work and thrive in any of our nations without any form of hindrance or discrimination.”
President, National Association of Nigerian Traders, Ken Ukaoha, had earlier revealed the pains experienced by Nigerians doing business in Ghana and had requested that Mr Gbajabiamila should intervene decisively.
