By our Reporter
A total of US$100,324,011.33 has been remited by the Federal Government to the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) as community levy for this year alone.
AFLM was reliably informed that the Nigerian delegation to the ongoig Second Ordinary Session of ECOWAS Parliament disclosed this during the presentation of Nigeria country report.
In this regard, , the leader of the delegation and deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Idris Wase, said Nigeria had so far this year, remitted $100,324,011.33 to the ECOWAS Commission.
Wase added that the government was committed to fulfilling its financial obligations to ECOWAS and was making arrangements to pay up the balance for the year.
READ MORE: Ugandan Troops Taking Part in Eastern DRC Regional Peacekeeping Effort
According to him, “Nigeria’s commitment to the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Persons and Goods is completely unwavering. In a bid to gain full realization of the protocol, the Federal Government has introduced the Visa on Arrival, VoA, policy to expedite movement of ECOWAS members through Nigeria’s borders.
He stated further that, “The Federal Government has signed the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA. Nigeria has equally demonstrated commitment to a gradual removal of import duties and other non-tariff barriers on imports within the African continent. ”To show the Federal Government’s commitment, the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, has commissioned the first Export Processing Terminal, EPT, in the country.
In his words, ”This is geared at enabling export-bound cargoes access to Lagos seaports without a glitch, in line with AfCFTA objectives. With this move, we believe we will encourage intra-African trade and boost good regional development.”
