The founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Mr Atedo Peterside, has complained that only Dangote Industries Limited is allowed to move goods across the border amid the closure of the country’s land borders.

Nigeria’s land borders have been closed to its West African neighbours for more than a year as part of efforts to check the smuggling of contraband into the country.

Peterside said on Tuesday that legitimate exporters and importers should be allowed to move their goods across the borders.

“Allowing legitimate exporters and importers to move their goods across the border should be a no-brainer.

“Why refuse everybody else and allow only one company (Dangote)?

“This is why some of us argue that the Nigerian economy is rigged in favour of a handful of well-connected persons,” he said on his Twitter handle.

The value of the nation’s non-oil exports declined by 11.1 per cent to $320m in August on the back of the border closure, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq

The Federal Government has directed Batches A and B beneficiaries of the N-Power Programme who were earlier omitted from the payment of their stipends to report to their various state focal persons for verification and revalidation.

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, gave the directive in Abuja on Tuesday.

She stated that efforts to resolve unpaid stipends withheld due to discrepancies in records of the beneficiaries were almost being concluded.

She said investigations conducted by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation following the omission of some N-Power beneficiaries from payment of stipends indicated that some of the affected persons were also drawing salaries from other Federal Government agencies.

The minister, however, directed that opportunity has been given to the affected beneficiaries to verify and re-validate their eligibility so that qualified beneficiaries could be paid for their participation in the N-Power Programme.

“Beneficiaries are hereby directed to report to their State Focal Persons immediately with their bank account details, including bank statements from March 2020 to date, NYSC Discharge Certificates, birth certificates and other related screening documents,” Umar-Farouq added.

She said the deadline for verification would be October 13, 2020.

The minister said beneficiaries who fail to attend the verification exercise would forfeit their stipends.