The lawmaker representing Kaduna Central at the Senate, Shehu Sani, has backed President Muhammadu Buhari’s refusal to sign the African Free Trade Agreement, AfCTA.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had on Saturday lambasted President Buhari, saying his hands were too weak to sign the free trade agreement

Obasanjo added that he hopes that Nigeria will soon have a president who will sign the agreement.

But Sani explained that the idea would have made more sense if African countries were producing what they consume and not importing from Asia, Europe and America.

The lawmaker tweeted on Sunday night, “The African continental free trade is a great idea if African states are locally producing and not importing goods from US, Europe and Asia.

“The President is right for refusing to sign a trade deal that will only open our country to imports.”

https://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/10/afcta-senator-sani-speaks-on-buharis.html

FTC on my birthday, dedicated to my Mother. Best love ever. Happy birthday to me.

The poster above me why u theif my FTC na?

well i blame buhari for losing FCT.

#atikulation2019

I totally agree with you Sani, Buhari must go though.

I tire oo

This Sabo has gone back to Buhari arselicking all in a bid to save his seat.

Never trust a Nigerian politician.

I know Atiku will sign that shiiit..

Buhari is a wise man.... wiser than Obj, Saraki and even u Sani

But Sani explained that the idea would have made more sense if African countries were producing what they consume and not importing from Asia, Europe and America.
The President is right for refusing to sign a trade deal that will only open our country to imports.”

GOD BLESS OUR PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI as he is doing all he can to take our country to greater heights.
We are behind you GIDIGBA sir!
Wailers can keep wailing till 2023 and beyond.....

How can Buhari sign it when he have no iota of experience on how the economy works.A man with F9 in Economics & Maths?
Believe me he will only sign whatsoever that have to do with cattle/fulani & corruption.

He made sense

Ayam not understanding o!

Sani is being clearly shallow , Nigeria with a population of 180 million will clearly be the biggest beneficiary of Acfta but Buhari is stopping it because right now he thinks it's only Igbos that have semi Industrialised enough to be in a position to benefit from it and maybe Dangote from the north ...

Sign it his hands ar too weak indeed

Mal. Sani wants to be in the good books of Mr. President to save him from the claws of that midget, El-Rufai ...

SarkinYarki:
Sani is being clearly shallow , Nigeria with a population of 180 million will clearly be the biggest beneficiary of Acfta but Buhari is stopping it because right now he thinks it's only Igbos that are positioned to benefit from it

Actually no.

Nigeria having 180 million people makes it the biggest market and will become a dumping site for goods from all these countries

SarkinYarki:
Sani is being clearly shallow , Nigeria with a population of 180 million will clearly be the biggest beneficiary of Acfta but Buhari is stopping it because right now he thinks it's only Igbos that are positioned to benefit from it

Must you always play the tribalism card ?

olaolulazio:
I know Atiku will sign that shiiit..

Buhari is a wise man.... wiser than Obj, Saraki and even u Sani

but they didn't sign the PPA from europe to ecowas, why?

in and ideal scenario this should benefit Nigeria the most because of our population, we should have more production capacity.

Monkey thought he could serve as a puppet in government and same outside of government. We know how they hastily hoisted ECOWAS on us and today, we know what the likes of Togo and Benin are doing to us. They pick stuffs from another country and dump them in Nigeria. In fact, killer herdsmen come in the name of ecowas free movement of goods and persons. Arms are transported across borders because of this. We have problems as a result of this, but that old idiot is supporting another one.

OBJ records of stewardship is readily available to all of us.

WE GOOD PEOPLE OF NIGERIA SAY NO TO #ATIKUlatedOBItuary!

Racoon:
How can Buhari sign it when he have no iota of experience in how economy work.A man with F9 in Economics & Maths?
Believe will only sign whatsoever that have to do when cattle/fulani & corruption are concerned.

Racoon wey get limited intelligence and zero business acumen think say him sabi pass him masters? Nothing my eye no go see

Africa Free Trade deal: Why manufacturers are adamant

CHIKODI OKEREOCHA On: August 31, 2018


The Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations says Nigeria is almost ready to sign the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement. But this flies in the face of the stiff opposition of the Organised Private Sector (OPS), particularly manufacturers, against the deal. The OPS is worried by what it calls the absence of a study to determine the impact, benefit and downside of the agreement, among others. Assistant Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA writes.

His expertise in trade policy and negotiations is widely acclaimed. Prior to his appointment as Director General/Chief Negotiator, Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN), Ambassador Chiedu Osakwe was Trade Adviser at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, where he provided technical advice on trade policy and structural reforms to the Federal Government.

He was also a diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during which he served at the Permanent Missions of Nigeria to the United Nations (UN) and other international organisations in New York and Geneva.

Educated at the University of Ibadan (Nigeria), Oxford (United Kingdom) and New York University, from where he obtained his PhD, Osakwe is also an Adjunct Professor on a leave of absence from the International University in Geneva on International Trade Policy, Diplomacy and Negotiations.

With such intimidating resume and wealth of experience, Osakwe’s charge at NOTN, where he is expected to coordinate the formulation of a cohesive negotiating strategy for Nigeria especially in the controversial African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, ordinarily, should be easy.

But it is doubtful if his efforts at NOTN to harvest interests and concerns of various stakeholders and actors on trade and turn them into technical positions and national agenda at the negotiation tables are enjoying a smooth sail.

Already, there are indications that NOTN, which was established by the Federal Government in May, last year, as the standing negotiating body for Nigeria, may not be on the same page with members of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) especially the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) with regards to Nigeria joining the AfCFTA.

The Nation learnt that convincing the OPS to endorse the controversial trade liberalisation deal appears to have remained a hard nut to crack for the renowned international diplomat. The deal may have become a hard sale to the OPS.

AfCFTA, as adopted by the 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in January 2012, was designed to create a continental trade bloc of 1.2 billion Africans, with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of about $3 trillion.

The agreement was seen as an important milestone in promoting Africa’s regional integration and helping to increase intra-African trade, which was about 17 per cent, by more than 52 per cent, worth about $35 billion yearly.

AfCFTA commits African countries to phasing out tariffs on 90 per cent of goods, with 10 per cent of “sensitive items” to be phased out incrementally. It will also liberalise trade in services, while also signaling a step towards building strong regional value chains.

Forty four out of 55 African leaders ratified the AfCFTA at an Extra-ordinary Summit of the AU Assembly in Kigali, Rwanda, on March 21. Nine other AU members, including Nigeria and South Africa delayed accent to the treaty.

President Muhammadu Buhari was earlier scheduled to travel to Kigali to ratify the trade deal, which is easily the largest trade agreement since the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1994. But he backtracked on the opposition of the OPS who said they were not consulted.


Specifically, the OPS decried poor preparations, lack of consultations, and non-inclusion of inputs by key stakeholders as regards market access and enforcement of rules of origin as major reasons why signing the agreement will jeopardise the nation’s economy.

Consequently, the president, on March 27, set up a committee to review the CFTA framework agreement. The committee has since swung into action to strengthen its consultations with critical stakeholders and determine how various sectors of the economy will benefit from the proposed agreement.

The committee is said to have explained to the various stakeholders the contents of the 250-page document, which some of them did not read. It has also been working assiduously to allay the fears of the private sector, specifically on issues dealing with the particular tariff lines that shall be liberalised.

“What we are doing is to establish a technical working group on goods market access, consisting MAN, Ministry of Finance, National Bureau of Statistics, NACCIMA. We asked MAN to give us the list of products they would like to see in the 10 per cent. They have sent since last May 11.

“In other words, everything MAN asked to be included in the exclusive and sensitive list (10 per cent not for liberalisation) has been done,” Osakwe told reporters, in Abuja.

http://thenationonlineng.net/africa-free-trade-deal-why-manufacturers-are-adamant/

Say No to #AtikulooterCONtinua.

Tufiakwa!Obasanjo & Atiku is trying to sell Nigeria to Economic imperialist.

Good to know.
Another beautiful one from PMB.

Sai Baba!

The General commander of Nigeria armed Forces will not only protect us from Boko haram but also from corrupt politicians who want Nigeria to always import goods since they largely benefit from it.

billyG:
Tufiakwa!Obasanjo & Atiku is trying to sell Nigeria to Economic imperialist.

you are not a good economics student are you?
why do countries want to enter the EU?
why does the UK, still want access to the single market after brexit?
why does the US, Canada and Mexico have NAFTA?
why is china championing the building of the new silk road, the one belt on road initiative?
what did Adam Smith say about trade?

read up the benefits of this trade agreements and their disadvantages.

To put it simply, this trade deal is necessary, for that better naija we are all dreaming of, but if buhari does not like something about it, he should send a team to negotiate and iron it out.

Racoon:
How can Buhari sign it when he have no iota of experience in how economy work.A man with F9 in Economics & Maths?
Believe will only sign whatsoever that have to do when cattle/fulani & corruption are concerned.

YOU SURE SAY U.GO SCHOOL? SEE PERSON WEY DEY BERATE ANOTHER PERSON INTELLIGENCE YET YOUR ENGLISH IS SO APPALLING

Mynd44:

Actually no.

Nigeria having 180 million people makes it the biggest market and will become a dumping site for goods from all these countries

Immediately Nigeria signs that deal, European companies will open shop in Cotonou and start bringing goods stamped,"Made in Africa" into Nigeria

Someone is working hard for his return ticket

naijapips02:
This Sabo has gone back to Buhari arselicking all in a bid to save his seat.

Never trust a Nigerian politician.

you people are too unintelligent and you talk online with your brain at home.

Every politics is local. If Saraki can win irrespective of party in kwara state, such is not the case with shehu in kaduna central. He has never been a PDP member and has refused to join them. Hunkuyi that joined PDP is regretting after the primary. Rufai chachangi joined them, he saw that he won't get what he wanted , he ran back to apc though he lost the primary.

The national leadership of the party has stood with shehu sani . The president has done same. But some animals still want him to be in combat position against the party.

You don't expect a senator who the president Sat on the edge of his seat to listen to while discussing as partners to go attacking him.

Racoon:
How can Buhari sign it when he have no iota of experience in how economy work.A man with F9 in Economics & Maths?
Believe will only sign whatsoever that have to do when cattl/fulani & corruption are concerned.

and you supported Adeleke as governor of Osun.If you have A1 in Economics you will support Buhari on this.

Mynd44:

Actually no.

Nigeria having 180 million people makes it the biggest market and will become a dumping site for goods from all these countries

I am looking at 180 million people from the point of cheap malleable abour that can mobilized with other factors of production to deliver lower cost of production ..the only missing link is cheap reliable power which Nigeria suffer considerable dearth of